Successful kidney transplant gives Old Settler second chance
Staff reporter
This year's Old Settlers' Day for Rochelle Mueller will be a celebration. Not only because it's her 20-year class reunion, but a celebration of life.
At her class reunion five years ago, Rochelle was ill.
She was diagnosed with a condition that scarred the filters in her kidneys, resulting in kidney malfunction.
"I attended the reunion but didn't feel well," said Rochelle. "I had kidney failure that November (1999)."
As a result of her condition, she was placed on dialysis and had to follow a restricted diet with limited fluid intake.
By March 2000, she had successfully completed testing to qualify for a kidney transplant.
Since Rochelle's blood type is rare, it was difficult to find a matching non-living kidney donor.
Family members were considered and Rochelle's brother, Craig, was the best candidate. Without hesitation, he offered one of his kidneys to his older sister.
The transplant was performed July 31, 2000, at Via Christi-St. Francis in Wichita.
"The transplant went well and to date I've had no rejection episodes," Rochelle said.
Each had a six- to eight-week recovery period and fully recovered from the procedure.
"Since the transplant, I can eat and drink (water) like before," Rochelle said.
A minor setback occurred in April when she was diagnosed with basil cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer.
"It's the least life-threatening skin cancer, but it can cause considerable damage," Rochelle said.
The cancer was a result of anti-rejection medications she had taken for her kidney transplant and life-long exposure to the sun.
The initial treatment of a prescribed topical cream didn't work.
Surgery was performed to remove the cancer, located on her forehead above her left eye. A skin graph was taken from Rochelle's clavicle to cover the removed layers of skin.
"It seemed like it took longer for me to heal from this than from the transplant," Rochelle said.
The doctors said they were successful in removing all of the cancer.
A 1984 Marion High School graduate, Rochelle participated in softball, volleyball, basketball, track, and softball and enjoyed exercising as an adult.
"I was following a healthy lifestyle while waiting for a transplant," Rochelle said. Following the transplant, she was able to return to her exercise routine.
Rochelle is an accounting clerk at Harrah's Prairie Band Casino in Mayetta, near Topeka.
Thankful for each day, Rochelle knows the reality of her illness.
"Because I'm more than a year out from my transplant, the likelihood of the disease returning to my transplanted kidney is slim," she said. "The chances of rejection lessen over time. However, the possibility of a rejection can never be completely eliminated. A transplant is a treatment, not a cure."
The games
Two gold, a silver, and a bronze. Not bad for a woman who received a kidney transplant four years ago.
Rochelle competed July 27-Aug. 1 in the 2004 U.S. Transplant Games at Minneapolis, Minn.
The event is presented by the National Kidney Foundation and sponsored by various pharmaceutical companies, organizations, businesses, and private donations.
The games are an Olympic-style, four-day athletic competition among recipients of life-saving organ transplants — heart, liver, kidney, lung, and pancreas. Bone marrow recipients also are eligible.
The purpose of the games is to celebrate life, call attention to the success of organ and tissue transplantation, and to recognize and honor the donors and donor families.
"It proves that people with transplants can lead normal, active lives," Rochelle said.
Following Rochelle's transplant, the Wichita transplant team that treated her encouraged her to participate in the games.
She contacted the Mo-Kan team of athletes from Kansas and western Missouri.
The team is more than exercise and competition.
"I've met some really great people," Rochelle said, "people who have gone through the same or similar experiences as me."
More than 1,500 athletes from the U.S., Canada, Germany, and Australia competed in 12 different sports.
Rochelle competed in five events — two team and three individual.
She received gold medals for table tennis and 1,500-meter walk/run which she finished in 11-minutes, 29.8 seconds.
She earned a silver as a member of a coed 3-on-3 basketball team, losing the championship game by only four points.
Her coed volleyball team brought home a bronze for their efforts.
She also participated in the softball throw competition and received fourth place with a throw of 94 feet four inches.
Rochelle said she wished she could have done better in the softball throw, because her brother, Craig, and friend Laura (Wolf) Kowach of Silver Lake offered her training assistance.
The upbeat athlete wasn't sure if her high school athleticism would prevail.
"I went in to the competition thinking I didn't want to embarrass myself," said Rochelle.
Some additional training would have been welcomed, especially for the team events.
"The volleyball team practiced three times together," Rochelle said with a laugh. "However, most of us, including me, play volleyball on local recreational teams."
Team members' homes were spread out between Kansas City, Lawrence, Derby, and Topeka, where Rochelle resides.
"We really jelled well as a team," Rochelle said. One member of the team was a 12-year-old girl who was a liver recipient when she was 7 months old.
The coed 3-on-3 basketball team practiced together an hour before the competition.
"Participating in the basketball tournament was the most fulfilling for me," Rochelle said. Basketball always has been her favorite sport.
The games are held every two years.
In odd-numbered years, world transplant games are held. In July 2005, the world games will be in London, Ontario, Canada. Rochelle is considering competing there.
The competition also includes living donors and families of organ donors.
This year was significant to Rochelle, not only because it was her first time to participate but because it is the 50th anniversary of the first successful kidney transplant.
Dr. Joseph E. Murray performed the operation in 1954 on twin brothers. The twin recipient survived eight years following the transplant. The donor twin, Ronald Herrick, attended the games with Dr. Murray.
"I got to talk briefly with Dr. Murray," Rochelle said. "We were on the same elevator."
She said she appreciated what the men had done.
"I can't imagine what he and Mr. Herrick who had willingly undergone the experimental procedure must have been feeling," Rochelle said. "to see all these people living normal lives and competing in these events as a result of what was accomplished 50 years ago."
"If it weren't for these men, I and thousands of other people wouldn't be here today," Rochelle said.
