WIFE OF FALLEN OFFICER NEEDS KIDNEY

Dear Reader,

This is a story about your family member, your neighbor, your friend, and your co-worker. This is a story about Connie Heller, mother of Laura Heller, widow of Law Enforcement Officer, Brian Heller.

Connie Heller worked for years as a nurse in emergency services and intensive care. She has cared and helped many people over the years. She lost her husband Brian, a police officer in 2000 when he was responding to a call from another officer who was being held at gunpoint. Brian never made it due to his car leaving the highway and killing him at age 35. Brian left behind Connie and his daughter Laura age 9.
Since then Connie had two major heart attacks and underwent open-heart surgery. Laura has helped her mother as much as she could but had to eventually depend on her grandparents while her mother spent many hours ill and recuperating.

Connie has an inheriting disease know as polycystic kidney disease (PKD). This is a genetic disorder characterized by the growth of numerous cysts in the kidneys. About one-half of people with the most common type of PKD progress to kidney failure, also called end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Symptoms usually develop between the ages of 30 and 40. Due to this disease, which is inherited, it has ruled out Laura, her daughter from being a possible kidney donor. Laura is at high risk for developing this disease herself.

Connie is being treated for End Stage Renal Disease. But as some of you may already know, the time has come for her to seriously start looking at the reality of a kidney transplant. The doctors have run out of veins to do dialysis. To put it plainly Connie, is running out of time Her doctors are all in agreement that a transplant is necessary soon. With this in mind, they have asked that she look for possible living donors. The hope is that she can find a match and get a transplant before her time here has run out.

Treatment options include:
Dialysis ( Two types), 1 peritoneal dialysis treatment at home. The dialysis involves a 30-minute fluid exchange from the abdomen four to six times a day. This is what put her into the hospital for 10 months back in 2005. So this is not an option. 2nd Hemo dialysis involves circulation of blood through a filter on a dialysis machine this requires access to a blood vessel so that the machine has a way to remove and return blood to the body. All of Connie's vessels have been compromised over the past 4 years of dialysis so this is almost out of t he picture. People undergoing dialysis have an overall five-year survival rate of 32%. So time is getting short.

Deceased Donor Transplant (with a potential wait of 3-5 years)

Living donor Transplant

Of these treatment options, living donation has become the preferred treatment.

Organs last longer and work quicker. Today, more than half of all donors are living donors.

I know this is a big decision, so please think about it carefully and consider doing it only if you want to do it. She doesn’t want anyone to feel pressured or to feel guilty about donating. Please think about your family and how this would impact them. Consider the risk you would be taking before you make your decision to donate. She knows that the people who choose not to donate have their reasons and that they love and care for her just as much as those who make the decision to donate. She understands all of your decisions and she hopes that you will follow your instincts, what ever they may be, then you make your decision.

Anyone could call in to be considered. You do not have to be the immediate family, so please share the enclosed information with everyone you know. Connie would love to spend as much time as she can with her daughter Laura, especially since Brian was taken from them so early in life. If you are interested in becoming a donor, please contact the Christiana Hospital 302 623 3866 ask for donation coordinator and tell them who you are trying to help. They will ask you some questions and instruct you on how to get tested.

To give you a little information on Laura, Connie and Brian’s daughter. She is a wonderful young lady. An honor student, a good friend, a wonderful daughter, a fantastic granddaughter. She volunteers in her community daily, at her young age of 18. She is looking forward to college, spending as much time as she can with family and friends, working for her community and making the most of her life as she can in the time that is given to her.

From Laura, Connie and the rest of their family, thank you for taking the time to read this and for passing this information along.

God Bless You.
Sincerely,
Connie Widmann Mother in Law
443 260 0615 If you have questions or would like more information