In need of a kidney, best friend is a donor match

In need of a kidney, best friend is a donor match

For Caitlin Miller-Pollitt, what started out like any other day at Emplify Health by Gundersen Friendship Hospital quickly turned into one that she'll never forget - a day that changed her life.

In 2022, while working as the health information documentation specialist, Miller-Pollitt's best friend of more than 20 years, Alyssa Roller, told her that she was going to the eye doctor because she thought she may need glasses. Miller-Pollitt didn't think much of it until the next day, when Roller's mom called to tell her that Alyssa had gone into kidney failure.

"I was confused and couldn't understand how it had gone from getting glasses to kidney failure and admission into the hospital," Miller-Pollitt said.

For the next year, Roller went through an extensive and emotional journey of testing, hospital visits, hospitalizations, dialysis appointments and eventually, a home dialysis port.

"She was a completely healthy 25-year-old, and within such a short amount of time, she was in end-stage renal disease," Miller-Pollitt said.

One day during her journey, Roller was informed that she'd been placed on a kidney transplant waiting list, and because of her age, she was a priority. Still, time passed before her family could be tested for a possible match, and when they finally were, none of them were eligible. But there was one person remaining.

"Somehow, from the very beginning, I knew I would be her match," Miller-Pollitt said. "Someone I had grown up with, gone through every stage of life with, lived with, went to college with. I couldn't see how anyone else could be a match.

"I thought that maybe this is why our friendship had always been strong and endured through all these years. Maybe it was leading up to a moment we could have never imagined or saw coming," she added.

Once Miller-Pollitt found out she was indeed Roller's match, she underwent testing for living donors and met with social workers, behavioral health specialists and several doctors to ensure she not only physically matched but could withstand the mental and emotional journey she was about to embark on.

"While this is standard process for them, I just couldn't convey enough that I never had a doubt in my mind about doing this, that I would never change my mind or back out," she said. "Alyssa had given me so many reasons to love my own life and myself throughout the years, and I was not interested in giving future years up with her if I could do anything about it."

Miller-Pollitt had never had surgery of any kind before, so she was unsure of what to expect. Being wheeled into the operating room was the last thing she remembered of the experience before waking up in recovery, where she saw Alyssa - and something remarkable - shortly thereafter.

"I was shocked that she was already up and moving, but the thing I remember most is that she looked like herself again," she said. "All the color had returned to her face and body, she was happy and lively, and it was the best moment of my life."

To this day, doctors still haven't identified why Roller's kidneys failed so abruptly at such a young age and without any obvious symptoms. The women shared their story not only out of thankfulness, but to let others know that it could happen to them.

"You can never know what might happen, and that is why it is so important to us to share our story, because bringing awareness to this disease is what keeps patients alive," Miller-Pollitt said. "It's what may, in the future, save your loved one or your friend."

There's a shortage of kidney donors, and Miller-Pollitt encourages anyone who's curious about it to volunteer at donor events like Donate Life, read about it and share information you learn about organ donation with others.

"Every little piece of information that is shared, kindness that is given, and helping hand that reaches out can truly make the difference between life or death," she said.

To learn more about donating kidneys and other organs, visit the Wisconsin Donate Life website at donatelifewisconsin.org or the national site at donatelife.net.