Sartell woman's daughter waits for kidney

reprinted from Sartell News Leader

by Dennis Dalman

Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:13 AM EST



Despite her own medical problems she has suffered, Laine Freiberg of Sartell doesn't think much
about herself; she thinks about her daughter who is desperately in need of a kidney transplant.

Before Freiberg goes to sleep and after she wakes up, she agonizes about her daughter's plight.
“I've had cancer, I've had a brain tumor,” Freiberg said. “But that's nothing compared to my
daughter. I would gladly take on her condition if I could.”

Laine works in the business office of St. Cloud Orthopedic. Her daughter, Melissa Freiberg Larson, who is 39, is a single mother who lives with her two children in Monticello. Twelve years ago, while pregnant with her son, Hayes, doctors noticed the protein in her urine was abnormally high. After further checking, they discovered her kidneys were disintegrating.

After giving birth, she needed a kidney transplant. Fortunately, her younger brother, Matt, was a “match,” and he gladly donated a kidney for his sister. For years, everything seemed to be fine, but last July doctors noticed Melissa's one good kidney was taking a turn for the worse. As a result, she had to start undergoing dialysis treatments three times a week at Centra Care in Big Lake. Dialysis is a four hour process in which a machine filters the blood that failing kidney(s) can no longer handle.


Melissa's kidney problem was always something of a mystery, although doctors think they were weakened because of some childhood illness. “I had pneumonia when I was a child, ” she said, “but no one can know for sure. Quite a few people have bad kidneys, and they don't even know it. That was the case with me.”

In 2006, Melissa moved in with her mother in Sartell because the strain of her illness and trying to raise her two children (Hayes and 9 year old Maya) had become so difficult. Her children attended Oak Ridge Elementary School during that year. After dialysis treatments, Melissa is exhausted, and she lies in a recliner or bed at home, unable to summon up the energy to do much of anything. She worked part-time at the American Legion in Monticello, but that too can be a struggle because of her lowered energy level. Because of her illness, she is on a severely restricted diet. Most fruits and vegetables are out, as are dairy products. Instead of drinking water, she must suck on ice to limit her intake of fluids. It is, she said, a dreary diet.


What disturbs her most, however, is that she doesn't have the energy to do more activities with her two children. She is a Brownie leader, and she loves to attend her son's football games, but it is always difficult to summon the energy to have more fun times with the kids. Most of all, she wishes someone somewhere could become a donor for a new kidney.

The process is very simple.

What's needed is someone with Type O blood (either positive or negative).

The test is simple.

People simply call the University of Minnesota Hospital
(toll-free 1-800-328-5465 ext. 522) and express interest.


They can then have their blood tested at their local clinics, and the blood test results are sent to the U of M Transplant Center. If there is a match, a kidney x-ray is later done, and the prospective donor can then decide whether to donate or not.
There is no age limit. Finding the right donor is difficult because a donor's blood antigens must be compatible with those of Melissa.
The donor's blood antigens must be compatible with those of Melissa. The entire process is strictly confidential, and it's free.

Melissa and her mother personally know some people who did the blood test but whose antigens did not match. Two of them decided to donate a kidney to other people. Throughout her long ordeal, Melissa has tried to keep her problems in
perspective. One day, she drove to Crossroads shopping center in St. Cloud. She felt weak, but it was a nice day and so she decided to walk quite a ways into the mall. She started a conversation with a woman she happened to see and told her, “Gee, I'm glad I decided to walk instead of using my handicapped car sticker. It's so nice out today!”The woman asked, “Handicapped sticker? Why?” Melissa explained her condition. The woman, in an outpouring of sympathy, told Melissa she knows what that's like after having 19 surgeries because of brain tumors. “That woman made me realize there is always somebody worse off than me,” Melissa said.


When she is undergoing dialysis treatments, there are usually about 20 people getting dialysis in the same large room. “One guy just retired,” she said. “I feel so bad for him because that's no way to enjoy retirement.” Melissa said even if she doesn't get a kidney transplant, she wants to make “everyone in the world” aware of the importance of organ transplants, including people putting “organ donor” on their drivers' licenses.

“It reallly is the gift of life,” she said.

Sartell Newspaper article jpeg

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