Bill Henrichs

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.


This journey started many years ago when Bill’s kidney function started to deteriorate due to a diabetes medicine. He was removed from that medicine and was stable for many years. Starting last year, Bill’s kidneys were deteriorating and we had several tests including a biopsy to investigate.  In the end, no specific cause was found and on January 2, 2018, we were told that Bill was being referred to Mayo to see whether a transplant was a viable option. 


In February, we spent 4 days at Mayo going through very extensive testing and we were pleased to hear that Bill would be approved once he got some shots and had his scheduled colonoscopy. After completion of all of that, Bill was listed as eligible for a transplant. 


We are very blessed to have many people willing to be tested for a match. This was critical as Bill is Type O blood. This means he is a universal donor (any blood type can use his blood and organs) but he can only receive from an O donor. We had several people start the process but get eliminated along the way.  


Then Bill’s first wife, Mary Ziegler, said she would get her blood type tested. We found out she was an O and she just kept moving along in the process.  There were some extra heart tests but she passed those with flying colors.


As co-parents, we have all worked hard to get along but being willing to donate a kidney is going above and beyond and we are extremely thankful for her generosity in doing this!!


We will all (Bill, me, Mary, and her sister, Susan) head down to Mayo in 1 week as pre-op testing starts at 7 AM on Monday, October 15, and the transplant is scheduled for Tuesday, October 16. 


Bill and Mary are both scheduled to be in the hospital about 3 to 5 days. Bill and I will stay in Rochester for 3 to 4 weeks while they tweak his anti-rejection meds. 
 
I will post updates as we continue to move through the this miraculous event!


We appreciate all of the prayers, love, and support from all of our friends and family. 


Thank you!
Linda Henrichs