PUEBLO, Colo. (KKTV) – Izzabella “Izzy” Martin is a 19-year-old girl who’s overcome a lot.
And now the clock is ticking for Izzy to find a donor for her life-saving kidney transplant.
Four years ago, when Izzy was 15 years old, she was diagnosed with a rare disease, which she says is basically her kidneys dissolving, and she would need at least one new kidney.
Recently, Izzy got great news about her transplant, but then something went horribly wrong.
“A week before my surgery, so on August 5, they had us go in and do like a final evaluation, and they ended up actually switching my dad’s surgeon and my surgeon,” Izzy tells 11 News.
Izzy continues saying, “And so my dad ended up with mine, and I ended up with his because of their conflicting schedules.
“And so that was the first time that my surgeon had seen my dad’s case, and he decided to open the images up, and he saw the third artery, which the radiologist and the other surgeon had both already missed before.”
Although there was a chance the surgery could still be done, Izzy’s family chose not to go through with it because of the major complications it could cause not only for Izzy, but for her dad as well.
When she found out she wouldn’t be getting her transplant after all, Izzy tells 11 News, “I definitely felt a little defeated because like we had already been through the whole process.
“We were given kind of like a false hope of ‘Oh, it’s going to be super simple,’ and I wasn’t going to have to start dialysis, which now I’m on, so it was hard.”
In addition to an emergency catheter being put in her and her having to travel to Colorado Springs for her dialysis three times a week for three hours, Izzy’s family is now searching for someone who may be a match, so Izzy can get her transplant.
As time goes by, Izzy continues to get sicker, and her health is declining.
“My creatinine had jumped really high, which is like what determines what kidney function you have, so the higher, the worse your kidney function is,“ Izzy tells 11 News.
“So my creatinine had gone up to 6.87, and so that’s why they did the emergency catheter, and now, since I started dialysis only two weeks ago, I’m down to 5.5, which is a really good decrease.”
Also, Izzy has to have another surgery on Wednesday to have her catheter placed in her stomach, so it’s less prone to infection.
While they’re still searching for a donor, Izzy’s family is thankful some people have stepped up to see if they’ll be a match, and Izzy says, “So we do have a few people actually that are testing to see if they can be a donor.
“We have a couple of people who have moved onto the next stages of the testing, so they’ve already went through all the pre-evaluation part of it, and so now they’re on like the next part of it.”
And thanks to a program they’re using, Izzy’s family has the potential to not only help her, but help a lot of others in her same situation as well.
“It’s a thing called Pair and Exchange,” Izzy says.
“It’s where if my dad matches someone else and they say, ‘Yes, we’ll take the kidney even though it has three arteries,’ and let’s say that their donor didn’t match them, but they match me then they can give me their kidney and my dad will give the other person his kidney and so it’s like a big trade.”
However, it’s still vital that Izzy gets her kidney as soon as possible, as she says, “So my kidney function is at six right now, which is really, really low.
“They would actually be doing the transplant at this point if they could, and so it’s pretty urgent that I get it done as soon as possible because my function will just keep going down with my genetic condition. Once it hits, it hits hard, and it just starts going downhill.”
So, Izzy and her family are encouraging people to register with the Pair and Exchange program, and Izzy tells 11 News, “You’re helping them one way or another, even if it’s not directly to me, who you know is asking for help, there are people out there who do need help who haven’t asked so.”
As for how she keeps such a positive attitude despite all she’s gone through, Izzy tells 11 News, “Just the support I get, you know.
“I have people who, you know they can’t donate and they can’t, you know, financially help out, but they reach out and they’re like ‘You’re in our prayers’ and that helps a lot.
“Knowing that people are still praying, and you know they have as much faith as we do.”
Likewise, Izzy says her family has been a tremendous support as well, and she couldn’t do any of this without them.
11 News also spoke with Izzy’s mom, Tammy Martin, and she explains what it was like when they found out Izzy wouldn’t be getting her surgery when they thought, saying, “Complete devastation.”
Tammy continues saying, “We were really expecting to move forward, we had the hotel set, we were ready to go, we had people flying in, the surgery was set for five days later.
“And when the doctor came in and had looked at the images and said, ‘Oh, they missed this,’ and we had to sit with counsel to figure out if this was the best option, it was really, really hard.
“You know, it was devastating for Izzy, it was devastating to my husband, and most of all, it was just this whole defeat moment.
“Just that moment in every parent’s life that you don’t want to sit there and have to figure out.”
When asked how this has impacted them, Tammy tells 11 News, “So, our lives have changed even more.
“Now we’re adding the dialysis three times a week, it’s very hard to juggle work, as well as the kids starting school, as well as trying to get Izzy back and forth.
“She’s been so sick with it, we’ve been in a lot of ERs, we’ve had a lot of doctors’ visits, a lot of phone calls following appointments, not to mention just being worried about her being so sick.
“We keep waiting for that moment where she gets better and she feels better because they keep telling us that’s coming, but it doesn’t seem to be coming fast enough.
“It is very hard at the end of the day to do it all and actually have some energy left to deal with the things that you need to deal with.”
Tammy, who’s struggling with a health battle herself, also says, “My health has definitely taken a toll.”
Tammy is diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer, and she tells 11 News, “I’ve found that I’m not spending enough time doing the things that I need to be doing, there’s just not enough time left in the day.
“My diabetes is out of check, so I’m having to deal with a direct diabetic team.
“And you know, just the exhaustion’s not good on the cancer and the cancer’s not good on the body.”
But through it all, Tammy’s kids, including Izzy, have been warriors, and she tells 11 News, “I’m so absolutely proud of my kid.
“They are an amazing bunch of children, adults.
“You know my oldest daughter, she’s here when she’s off, and she’s helping with everything in the house.
“And when the kids are here, they’re helping with the housework, they’re helping with the food…
“My son is on top of everything.
“I couldn’t be more impressed by the children.
“And beyond that, they are always there to support their sister because when we have to go on to specific diets and we have to take out this food, or add that food, they get on board.
“They don’t make her do it on her own; it’s a family given thing, so the whole household changes.
“And they don’t complain, and it’s just an amazing thing.
“Her sister calls her constantly just to check in and say, ‘What can I do?’ ‘How can I support you?’ ‘What do you need?’ and just to let her know that she loves her.”
If you are interested in becoming a kidney donor and helping someone receive a life-saving transplant, click the link here.
If you would like to donate to Izzy’s GoFundMe, click the link here.
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