Another chance at life

Baxter Bulletin | Joanne Bratton
Karen Hancock, 48, of Mountain Home, checks her blood sugar levels before eating. Hancock received a kidney transplant in April, her fifth kidney transplant since age 14. She was diagnosed with diabetes after her fourth transplant. / Kevin Pieper/The Baxter Bulletin
Mountain Home woman grateful for fifth kidney transplant
Karen Hancock owes her life to organ donors.

Hancock, 48, was only 14 years old when she was diagnosed with kidney failure. This April, she received her fifth kidney transplant, a move that has saved, improved and prolonged her life, she said.

“I have been blessed five times,” Hancock told The Bulletin, sitting in her Mountain Home residence with her Yorkshire Terrier, Max, by her side.

Experts say it’s extremely unusual for a person to receive five kidney transplants.

Dr. Leslie Spry, a nephrologist in Linoln. Neb., and spokesman for the National Kidney Foundation, said in his 30 years of experience in kidney medicine, he recalls some receiving three or four transplants, but not five.

There are several reasons why it’s unusual to receive five kidney transplants, including the fact that it becomes increasingly difficult to find a match due to the high level of antibodies, which fight off infection but also fight off the new kidney, Spry said. In addition, each transplant carries risks of infection and rejection, which can be life threatening.
______________________________________________________ 
"You have the power to SAVE lives." 
To register as a donor TODAY
In California: 
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 
Outside California: 
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

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