What’s a kidney between friends?
Cecilia Warrick, of Mercer Island, has been living with a sense of déjà vu.
Her granddaughter, Anna Lytle, of Renton, will receive a kidney transplant Friday. The surgery will be done at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle.
In 1965, Warrick’s husband was one of the first people in the Northwest to undergo regular kidney dialysis. He eventually had a kidney transplant.
“I’m not worried,” Warrick said. “He died of a heart attack, not because of his kidneys.”
Lytle needs the transplant because the ravages of lupus, an autoimmune disease that randomly attacks different parts of the body, have destroyed her kidneys. She has been on dialysis for the last eight months.
The new kidney will come from her best friend, Nicole Andergard, of Portland.
Lytle and Andergard, both 33, met when they were 5 years old and their families lived in the same Warrenton, Ore., neighborhood. (Warrenton is by Astoria.) They were born in August, five days apart. They liked the same things and have remained friends.
They eventually took different paths - Lytle married and moved to the Fairwood area of Renton and Andergard went to the University of Oregon.
“We no longer live down the street from one another, but we are still as close as ever,” said Andergard.
How close?
Andergard’s husband, Scott, held off asking Nicole to marry him until Lytle could be there to watch the proposal. When Lytle’s son, Drew, was born, Andergard was one of the first to hold the newborn. They frequently visited each other.
Andergard was visiting the weekend in February when Lytle’s kidneys shut down. She worried her friend was dying.
“Once Anna stabilized, she had a choice of being on dialysis for the rest of her life or signing up for a kidney transplant,” Andergard said. “I volunteered to give her a kidney when she went into the hospital the first time. I always knew, because of the way the lupus affects Anna, that she would need a transplant someday. We just figured it would be when we were in our 50s, not our 30s.”
Both Scott and Nicole Andergard offered their kidneys. They argued over who would be the donor. Blood tests showed Lytle’s body would probably accept a kidney from either one.
Next, all three were tested for antigens - genetic markers in the body.
Scott and Lytle matched on one of six markers, putting them in the good transplant donation/recipient class.
Then Nicole Andergard’s results came back. Four of her six markers matched Lytle’s.
“Only twins sometimes match this high,” Andergard said. “Most siblings don’t, and most mothers and daughters don’t.”
That sealed the deal for the two women. The match means Lytle won’t need as many anti-rejection drugs.
“We used to pretend we were sisters,” Andergard said. “Now we know we’re closer than sisters would be.”
After a surgery date was set and preparation was under way, Andergard had one moment of panic. She was stuck on Interstate 5 near Chehalis/Centralia because of an automobile accident Sept. 19.
“If I were in an accident, someone else might get my kidney because my driver’s license OKs organ donation,” Andergard said. “I couldn’t stand that thought.”
She got off the freeway and purchased a permanent marking pen. Then she and her 5-year-old daughter went into a fast-food restaurant. Andergard went into a restroom and used the marking pen to write a note on her stomach that said, “In case of emergency, contact Virginia Mason Hospital.”
“Because I used permanent ink, it was hard to scrub off,” Andergard said.
She had some explaining to do the next day at the hospital when she was being examined.
Because she’s been the one with the most energy, Andergard started a blog that has tracked the journey as she gives part of her body to her dear friend. It can be read at www.onekidneysjourney.blogspot.com.
As she anticipates surgery this week, Lytle feels overwhelmed by her friend’s generosity.
“I would do it for her,” she said.
Wednesday afternoon was her final dialysis treatment, something she’s not sorry to give up.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Lytle said. “Just a little nervous.”
While the friends have been sharing the prodding and poking in the presurgery medical world, Grandma Warrick does a little prodding of a different kind. She’s been helping raise money to cover out-of-pocket expenses for the two women. She encourages friends to visit the blog and donate.
She will be waiting by the phone Friday for word the surgery was a success.
“I’m not going to wait at the hospital,” she said. “It’s not a good idea to have a whole pile of people there. Grandmothers wait their turn.”
Sherry Grindeland: 206-515-5633 or sgrindeland@seattletimes.com