Defying the odds

SPRINGFIELD – Imagine there’s a permanent catheter inserted in your stomach and you’re hooked up to a machine lying down, waiting for the eight hours to slowly go by. Knowing that tomorrow, you will spend another eight hours hooked up to that same machine.

Alena Garrett, 21, of Williamsville has to go through this process every day of her life. This semester, Garrett is enrolled in two online courses and one hybrid course at Lincoln Land Community College.

Garrett was diagnosed with kidney disease in November 2015. She was experiencing abdominal pain and went to the ER.

“My blood work came back and they noticed that my creatinine, which measures the amount of toxins in your blood, was pretty high, it was at 2.1 and normal levels for someone my age is 0.5 to 1.2,” said Garrett.

Kidney disease has 5 stages, and at the time of her diagnosis, Garrett was at Stage 3.  With this diagnosis, her kidneys function at 30 percent.

Today, both of her kidneys combined are sitting at 13 percent function.

Garrett is on the national kidney donation list, and the estimated time to find a donor is two to five years.

It has already been nine months and Garrett is still without a kidney donor.

“The best thing to do is to get a living donor so someone would be willing to give me their kidney because you can live with just one, I am a hard match, is what they told me,” said Garrett.

Seven days a week, for about eight to nine hours at a time, Garrett is doing peritoneal dialysis.

According to the National Kidney Foundation, “In peritoneal dialysis, the inside lining of your own belly acts as a natural filter. Wastes are taken out by means of a cleansing fluid called dialysate, which is washed in and out of your belly in
cycles.”

Peritoneal dialysis allows the patient to do the treatment at their house, on their own time, rather than having to go to the hospital for treatment.

Since she can receive treatment from her house, this allows her to have a little more freedom.

Lincoln Land Community College offers students options to enroll in courses on campus, online and hybrid. Unfortunately, Garrett didn’t have a choice to take courses on campus.

“I prefer to be in a classroom setting, but I can’t be in a classroom with 25 people who are hacking and coughing, because I have no immune system,” said Garrett.

When she goes out in public, she usually has to wear a mask. All of her teachers are aware and understanding of her situation. “There have been incidents, not necessarily in these courses, but in other courses, where I had to miss class or an assignment for a couple days because I have been in the hospital or I have been so sick I can’t even get out of bed,” said Garrett.

Garrett is limited on what she can and can’t do.

“I meet once a week for my hybrid class which is all I can do,” said Garrett.

Riley Sanders, Garrett’s halfsister, is only 16 years old and said, “If I was 18, I would get tested for her and if it was a match, I would donate one of my kidneys.” Sanders said Garrett is mostly independent and does dialysis by herself with the help of their mother.

“I appreciate the time I do spend with her and I’m definitely more thankful,” said Sanders.

Sanders is a junior at Williamsville High School but is enrolled in an online public speaking course at LLCC. Sanders and Garrett are both taking the online class this semester. The online speech course allows students to have the same experience in a classroom setting by having the student present in front of eight audience members while videotaping the presentation. With Alena not being able to be around large groups of people, a course like the online public speaking class still allows for her to participate.

Although Professor Jason Dockter cannot relate to Garrett’s situation, he is always willing to work with students, especially for medical reasons. Only a small percentage of students come to campus to speak or work with Dockter, an English Professor, who has been at LLCC for 12 years and teaching online only for 10.

“I enjoy the challenge of teaching online and trying to figure out how to best use these technologies to accomplish things that we would normally accomplish in face-to-face classes,” Dockter said.

Taking a class online, Dockter said, “It’s easily repeatable in my view and is a great advantage for students because they might not get something entirely the first time, but online they can do it a couple more times, and the idea might sink in better or they might get the concept better.”

Kim Eddings, the Accessibility Services Coordinator for LLCC, said: “My end goal is to assist students in becoming as successful as possible.”

Anyone is invited to attend Alena Garrett’s Kidney Transplant Benefit on April 27, from 6 p.m. to midnight at the Sherman Athletic Club.

All monies raised will help Alena with her medical bills and expenses.

Emily Smarjesse can be reached at [email protected].