Havasu woman may get kidney

Help does often come when people are in need of it most. Lake Havasu City resident Kathie Hanacik has learned that through the generosity of the people of this city and from someone she didn’t even know.

Hanacik was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease called End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) in July 2007.

She felt faint, weakened and thought that maybe she had the flu. She wasn’t diabetic. She didn’t even normally get sick. Doctors ran tests and discovered what Hanacik had was something serious.

ESRD is a crippling disease. It attacks the kidneys and doesn’t go away. The kidneys essentially shut down, as is evident to Hanacik. Her kidneys are currently running at 2 to 4 percent. ESRD causes constant congestion and can lead to constant high blood pressure. She had to quit working in Lake Havasu City’s tourism industry, as her energy levels dwindled.

There is no cure for ESRD. The disease is chronic, and Hanacik would need a kidney transplant. Matches for a kidney transplant can often take a long time.

In the meantime, Hanacik fights her disease by undergoing Peritoneal Dialysis every night when she sleeps, which can often be uncomfortable.

Hope would be right around the corner, though, as help came from someone Hanacik didn’t even know. She would be put on the fast track to a possible kidney transplant.

“The donor came forward and said she would love to be part of this miracle,” Hanacik said.

The donor, who Hanacik did not name, wasn’t from Lake Havasu City. Hanacik’s new kidney will come from a woman in York, Penn.

She just felt like it was something she needed to do, Hanacik said.

But, before Hanacik can receive her transplant, there are many obstacles that have to be hurdled before it can happen.

First Hanacik’s donor will have to undergo further tests to confirm the transplant could be a success.

This will require travel arrangements for both Hanacik and her donor. It will require hotel arrangements for both, when they go to Phoenix to have the procedure done at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center.

All of this will cost money, and while Hanacik’s health insurance covers the procedure, the rest is up to her and her family financially.

Help is coming once again. Saturday, Oct. 18, Hanacik’s church, Mount Olive Lutheran Church, will hold a Steak and Fixings Dinner and a silent auction to help raise money for her, her family and her donor’s expenses.

The dinner will be held at the Parish Center inside the church from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and will consist of Petite sirloin steaks, salads, potato salads, rolls, vegetables and desert.

The church has already received some mighty donations for the silent auction, including a weekend getaway to a beach in Mexico, gift certificates to some of Havasu’s finest restaurants, including Shugrue’s and Red Robin, movie tickets and handmade quilts and stain glass angels.

Tickets for the dinner are $25. The church has already sold about half of the 110 seats they have.

The initial hope was to raise as much as $5,000. A Lutheran insurance company has already come forward and said they would match the amount raised if Mount Olive reaches the $3,000 mark.

As for Hanacik, she feels blessed to have so much support from so many people.

“There has just been overwhelming kindness from everybody,” she said. “People are so kind, so good and so giving. It is incredible how people have stepped up.”

Hanacik says there is a lesson she would like other people to learn from her experience, though. She hopes it would help bring to light that people need to keep an eye on their health and get regularly checked by a doctor.

She also hopes her situation will make more people aware of organ donation. She realizes the procedure may not be perfect, but it will give her a fighting chance.

“It isn’t a perfect system, but it gives you a shooting chance,” she said. “Any little gift like that is an absolute gift from God.”

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