HUDSON, Ohio — A Hudson mom is in search of a new kidney and is hoping someone out there has her match.
Michelle Tarczy has polycystic kidney disease which caused her kidneys to fail in 2014.
Tarczy said the disease progressed when she was pregnant with her daughter.
"I had preeclampsia which caused me to go into failure sooner than I might have been," Tarczy said.
The following year, her husband donated his kidney, but there were complications and her body rejected it.
What should have been a blessing ended in disappointment following a blood transfusion during her failed transplant.
"That caused me to have high antibodies which has now made me difficult to match," Tarczy said.
Searching for five years has required Tarczy to get creative. She created a car magnet to advertise her search for a kidney, in addition to posting signs at businesses around town and creating a Facebook page to find a match.
Her efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. At least 50 people have come forward, but none have been a match.
Tarczy has been doing her best to find a new kidney, but the longer she stays on dialysis the harder it will be for her body to accept a donor organ. She said she just wants to get back to her normal life.
"I'm always very tired and I can't be the mom and wife that I want to be,” Tarczy said. "The frustration comes in the sense that I can't be who I want to be, I feel like my life is on hold right now."
Anyone interested in being a potential donor can call the Cleveland Clinic Donor Office at 216-445-3150 or email Tarczy at kidney4michelle@yahoo.com.
