’92 East grad now eligible for a kidney

To lose weight, the woman underwent lap-band surgery on her stomach.

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — The kidney LaTanya Foster desperately needs was available in spring 2006, but she was ineligible to receive the lifesaving transplant because she was too much overweight.

At the time, the 5 feet 91⁄2 inch Youngstown woman weighed 275 pounds and had a body mass index (BMI) of about 40. Most facilities require a BMI of 35 or less before they will do a transplant.

At her heaviest, Foster said she weighed 315 pounds but a lot of that was fluid she lost when she started dialysis four years ago.

“I was a big chick,” the now slimmed-down Foster said with a laugh.

She now weighs in at about 222 pounds, has a BMI of 32, and is high on the list for a transplant, said Dr. John G. Zografakis, medical director of Summa Health System’s Bariatric Care Center in Akron.

However, getting to that desired position was not an easy matter.

Foster’s efforts to lose weight on her own were not successful, so she decided to undergo laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), known as lap-band surgery, to lose the necessary weight.

In May 2006, she had her first consultation with Dr. Zografakis and had the surgery Aug. 15, 2006.

‘Model patient’

Foster is a “model patient,” said Dr. Zografakis, who is also an assistant professor of surgery at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine.

She has been so successful because she has been proactive about cooperating with the procedure and has been to all of her follow-up appointments, he said.

During lap-band surgery, a silicone band is placed just below the diaphragm, at the top portion of the stomach, and restricts what can enter the stomach, allowing patients to feel full without overeating, Dr. Zografakis said.

Getting to the point where she is eligible for a transplant is a great triumph, and her health has already improved.

She is off all her blood pressure medicines and has more energy, Dr. Zografakis said.

But, the bottom line is she has zero function in her kidneys and undergoes 41⁄2-hour dialysis sessions three times a week to stay alive.

Dialysis is not so much painful, as exhausting, she said.

Foster knew she was not feeling right four years ago but was completely surprised to learn in a visit to the Cleveland Clinic that she had only 15 percent function of her kidneys.

"I was in total shock. My first thought was my life was over,” she said.

Indeed, the quality of her life changed drastically.

She could not work and is now on disability from Delphi Packard in Warren. Tied to dialysis, she can no longer travel, something she loves to do. She particularly enjoyed trips to Jamaica and the Bahamas.

“I’m a young woman. I want to get married and have children. But it’s too dangerous for me and the child,” she said.

“I used to get upset to have to disturb my good sleep and get up and go to the bathroom. Now, I’d give anything for that to happen,” she said.

But, she is both determined “not to have to live with this my whole life,” and confident that the transplant will happen.

“I believe it [a kidney] is going to come along,” she said.

“The first thing I’m going to do is take a two-week cruise, maybe to Aruba. And whoever gives me this kidney, I’ll take them along with me,” she promised.

What she’s learned

Though the experience has been difficult, she said it has made her more aware of life and taught her not to take anything for granted and appreciate everything and everybody.

“It has also taught me you don’t have to be old to be sick, and you don’t need to be a drug addict or an alcoholic or a diabetic to have kidney problems,” Foster said.

She said doctors still do not know why her kidneys failed.

“Patience is truly a virtue,” said the daughter of the Rev. Frank and Mary Talley-Foster

Sr., who came to the area in 1955 from Luverne, Ala. Her father was pastor of the former Fields Memorial Church of God in Christ on Ridge Road.

Foster, a 1992 graduate of East High School, said she has received great support from friends and family. She has a sister, Anna Foster-Jacobs of Youngstown; and two brothers, Willie Foster of Youngstown and Frank Foster Jr. of Pickerington, Ohio. Her fiancé is Kevin Rogers of Youngstown.

Asked what she would say to potential organ donors, she said: “Don’t be afraid. What better gift than to give life.”