Brothers share a kidney
Staff writer
Hillsboro Ford service mechanic Shane Goerzen, 26, learned last year after an out-of-the-ordinary doctor’s visit that his kidneys were functioning at only 4%.
“There was too much scar tissue to even really tell why,” he said. “In high school, I took a bunch of ibuprofen for pain management for sports. I didn’t know what doing too much would do, and that can actually do a lot of damage to the kidney.”
Taking athletic supplements in college added to the damage, but Goerzen noticed only after feeling ill last November.
After getting his diagnosis, both of Goerzen’s siblings got tested to see whether their kidneys would be a match for donation.
“Usually, the best success you have is with siblings,” Goerzen said.
Goerzen got lucky when both his brother and his sister qualified to donate: no high blood pressure, diabetes, or kidney stones, and the same blood type as Goerzen.
His brother, Brett, ended up giving Goerzen a kidney Nov. 16 because he was male, younger, and had better matching blood.
Almost a month later, Goerzen is doing fine.
“They put the kidney right up front because the other two still have some function with them,” he said. “If you push down on my stomach, you can see it. It’s pretty cool.”