As part of WKTV’s special coverage of World Kidney Day, March 10, we are presenting a series of stories, first about a Michigan donor leading an active lifestyle, then a West Michigan recipient living a lively future thanks to another, and also an adventure of a lifetime — a climb of Africa’s tallest mountain — to bring awareness to the need for more people will to share the gift of life. In this second story, West Michigan donated kidney recipient Heather Luchies.
By K.D. Norris
Heather Luchies, who grew up in Grand Rapids and has lived in Howard City since 2001, is one of the lucky ones, and maybe a bit blessed. And she knows it. In 2017, she received a living-organ donation of a kidney, from the love of her life, her husband.
But she also knows others are not so lucky, so blessed. And as she celebrated her 5-year “transplant-aversary” in January, she continues to advocate for those who, like her, need a kidney to live, and urge those who can to give the gift of life.
According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), more than 97,000 people in the U.S. are on the waiting list for kidney transplants. Over 3,000 new patients are added to this list every month. With fewer donors than there are those in need, 13 people die every day waiting for a kidney.
“I love talking about my experience. I am doing so well overall and love to give hope to those who are struggling,” Luchies said to WKTV. “I have been a volunteer with Gift of Life Michigan for the past three years, teaching others about organ donation is so important. Signing even one person up is life saving to many others.”
One of her favorite quotes, she says, is: “When you stand and and share your story in an empowering way, your story will heal you and your story will heal somebody else”
The awareness of the plight of those in need of a donation, awareness of the need for donors — and the awareness that a donor does not need to radically alter their lifestyle, even an athletic lifestyle — is part of what is driving a team of the One Kidney Climber group planning to scale Mt. Kilimanjaro on World Kidney Day, March 10.
The climb, now in progress, is the first coordinated event by Kidney Donor Athletes (KDA) to bring attention to the need for living kidney donors and that those who donate can be “healthy and thrive” with one kidney. WKTV is following the African adventure of one Michigan woman, Emily Polet-Monterosso, who is part of that climb.
Emily met the person who received her donated kidney, they actually became friends. Heather knew her donor even before her surgery was needed — her husband, Todd.
“The fact that I went through this whole process 5 years ago with my husband being my living donor is so humbling,” Heather said. “I was by his side throughout the whole testing process as he was by mine. We recovered together and would argue who had the more ‘painful’ surgery. I still think me, while he thinks the other. Donors are so special, a true gift.”
Heather’s story
Heather Luchies had known for years that she would, eventually, need a kidney transplant. She was diagnosed with Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a disease which causes scarring (sclerosis) of the kidney, when she was in her 20s.
Doctors told her it would eventually lead to kidney failure, but could not provide a timetable, and for a while she “stayed pretty stable … I was one of the lucky ones.”
But “I knew I would need a kidney one day; I just didn’t know when,” she said in a 2021 interview with Gift of Life Michigan. Her husband, Todd, also knew it was just a fact of life, dating back to when the couple first met more than 25 years ago.
“We always knew it was the eventual outcome. It was always on our mind,” Todd said.
Her kidneys gradually got worse. In late 2016, they were bad enough to have her put on the transplant waiting list — and at that time Todd said he wanted to see if he was a match.
“I called the next day,” he said. “We started getting tested a few days after that.”
After a series of tests, it was determined that he was a good match — something that Todd said was “a tremendous sense of relief” — and the transplant was scheduled for Jan. 7, 2017, and occurred at Mercy Health in Grand Rapids.
The couple had been married for about 18 years at the time. And now they have been given five more years together, five more years of watching their son, Cayden, now a senior at Grand Valley State University, grow into a man.
And, hopefully, they will have many more years.
As a donor, Todd recovered well and his “life has not changed,” Heather said. “He is 100 percent, physically, the same as before donating.”
Life is not exactly “normal” now for Heather, she does still have to take medications. But nothing like she did immediately after transplant.
“You start anti-rejection meds also called immunosuppressants. These meds weaken your immune system decreasing your body’s ability to destroy the new kidney,” she said. “I will be on these the rest of my life (or the duration of the transplanted kidney) … I have a love/hate relationship with them.
“The downfall of these meds is your weakened immune system and fighting off other viruses, infections … as well as some lovely side effects. But overall I am so thankful for these meds. Without them I would be on dialysis or not here today.”
And here, today, is pretty good for Heather.
“I had my 5-year ‘transplant-aversary’ on January 9. Just over 5 years. Time sure does fly,” she said. “Since my transplant I have lived a pretty normal life. I work part time for an electric company in Rockford. 99 percent of the time I work by myself (aside from my dog Wyatt who comes with me) which has been a huge blessing the past two years with COVID.
“I am very active. I work out daily (cardio and kickboxing are my favorite) this is something I could not do before my transplant, I just got too tired. I love hiking with our dog, being with family and just doing normal everyday things. I became vegan a few years ago, I love making new, thrown-together vegan meals.”
She also loves being involved with groups which support kidney donation.
“I have been a volunteer with Gift of Life Michigan for the past three years, teaching others about organ donation is so important. Signing even one person up is life saving to many others,” she said. “I am also a kidney mentor at my transplant center.”
Heather is also a “kidney mentor” at her transplant center, and with her friend and fellow transplant patient, she started a West Michigan Kidney Transplant/Disease Facebook group about two years ago “with hopes of meeting everyone in person. But COVID has set us back a tad. We hope to be able to meet up this Spring. I call it therapy.”
She also, strangely enough, has a connection to the group of donors currently in Africa, preparing to climb a mountain to advocate for kidney donation.
“Another cool thing is my Dad summited Kilimanjaro about 12 years ago,” she said. “So I have a slight connection to these climbers, aside from kidney stuff.”
More information on KDA
For more information on the Kidney Donor Athletes climb, and other resources, visit kidneydonorathlete.org.
A videographer is set to accompany the group to document the climb and WKTV plans to produce a story and video using supplied material after the climb. (We are told cell service is not great on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro.)
Founded in 2018, Kidney Donor Athletes is a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is to promote the gift of life through living kidney donation among active individuals and athletes by building a community that inspires, supports, and educates people about the experience.
