Karen Schumacher

Welcome to our CaringBridge website for Karen Schumacher.   We will be using the site to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement.  We will be asking for both prayer and practical support as we go through this process.  


Here's a brief synopsis of how we got to this point.   
Karen started feeling badly and retaining water in the winter of 2015.  Her doctors began drawing blood and keeping track of certain indicators in hopes of figuring out what was going on.    In  late June of 2015,  after another blood draw,   her doctor called and told her that her creatinine number was too high which signified that her kidneys were not functioning properly.   She was admitted to Baptist hospital where she remained for 10 days getting necessary tests and screenings.  A kidney biopsy revealed that her kidneys were not functioning.  We were told it was acute kidney damage from a medication that she had been taking and that she would need dialysis for 6 months in order to rehabilitate them.


Beginning in July of 2015,   Karen began dialysis treatments 2 to 3 times per week.   She had another biopsy in December of 2016 which revealed that her kidneys had sustained more damage than they had originally thought.  Her doctor at that point changed her diagnosis to End Stage Renal Disease and that this would require permanent dialysis or a kidney transplant.  Shortly after receiving the news, we gathered the family to pray and make a plan.   As a family, we all attended a kidney transplant orientation at Baptist hospital to learn more about the process and risks involved of finding a deceased or living donor.    Karen's sister, Pam,  began the process immediately to see if she could be a living donor.  In the fall of 2016, we were overjoyed to discover that Pam was a match!  We are so grateful to Pam for being so willing to donate her kidney.


The surgery is scheduled for February 6th in Oklahoma City.  Karen and Pam will be in neighboring operating rooms for the procedure and will be sporting matching pajamas afterwards.    We will send updates for prayer and practicals as we get more information.