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Hamburger feed to benefit woman with kidney disease
CAMBRIDGE -- On Friday Sharla Long, along with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, plans a medical benefit hamburger feed for Lori Leibbrandt.
The hamburger feed will be across the street from the press box at the Cambridge Football Stadium from 5 to 7 p.m. before the Cambridge vs. Franklin football game. The menu will consist of burgers, chips, dessert and drink for a free-will donation.
Lori was diagnosed with a genetic disorder called polycystic kidney disease when she was 17. The disorder is characterized by the growth of numerous cysts filled with fluid in the kidneys. PKD cysts can reduce kidney function, leading to kidney failure.
PKD can also cause cysts in the liver and problems in other organs, such as the heart and blood vessels in the brain. In only 5 percent of those diagnosed, the disorder effects the kidneys, liver and brain. Lori is in that 5 percent, finding out in the past five years that it has affected her liver and brain, too. The person affected with PKD inherits the disorder from one affected parent. Lori inherited PKD from her father, who inherited it from his mother.
"You have to deal with the hand that you have been given," Lori talks about the disorder that has affected her for years, "I start to slow down and get tired more quickly and my muscles hurt. Once I get a new kidney, I will feel much better."
One couldn't tell by looking at Lori that she only has 12 percent of her kidney function. Anything less than 10 percent, a person would need dialysis or a transplant to stay alive. Lucky for Lori, she found a transplant donor and will undergo a kidney transplant operation on Nov. 30 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Lori and her husband will then live near the hospital in Rochester for one month as she recovers.
Lori's husband, Gary, will be Lori's kidney donor. After two years of being on the transplant list, Gary was tested to see if he was a match. "There is only a one in a million chance that a spouse will be a match for kidney donation. That is why the doctors never tested him," states Lori.
After six to eight months, Lori will have another operation to remove her infected kidneys, once her new kidney is functioning well.??
The money raised at the Hamburger Feed will help pay for transportation to and from Rochester and for lodging in Rochester during Lori's recovery. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans will provide matching funds for the money raised at the hamburger feed benefit.