Resident ready for a kidney transplant

Transplant to take place in a few weeks

The day he was born, his parents knew he had a 50/50 chance of getting the disease. 

Jesse Laughter, a lifelong Green River resident, always knew he had a chance of getting polycystic kidney disease, which affects the kidneys and other organs. Clusters of cysts develop in the kidneys and interfere with the kidneys' ability to filter waste products from the blood. The continued growth of these cysts can lead to kidney failure.

"I found out and was diagnosed when I was 19 years old," Laughter said. "And then it was just kind of a waiting game."

Laughter said those who needed kidney transplants on his father's side of the family, included his grandmother, father, uncle and aunt. All of them received the transplant when they were about 40 to 45 years old.

"I'm 39," Laughter said. "I got hit a little early."

In 2003, Laughter started working for the Union Pacific Railroad Company and was having problems keeping his blood pressure under control.

"At that time, they checked my kidney function and I was at stage three already," Laughter said.

Stage three is where the kidneys are still working, but not as they should and problems start arising, he said. PKD is painful at times because the cysts cause the kidneys to malfunction and they also cause scar tissue. 

When cysts pop, sometimes it's so painful that all Laughter can do is lay on his back.

"From there it just progressed," he said. "I just continued to decline slowly."

At first, he would see specialists in Salt Lake City every six months, then three months, then once a month and now it's multiple times a month or even a week.

"It just depends," he said.

He also takes numerous medications a day, including pills to help control blood pressure, water pills, antidepressants, vitamins, a phosphorus blocker and he's on dialysis.

Every night, Laughter must hook up to the dialysis machine, which runs for 12 hours.

"I'm very fortunate because I've managed my dialysis very well," Laughter said. "I do the same things every day and I can maintain."

Laughter has received two types of dialysis: peritoneal and hemodialysis. Peritoneal dialysis is a treatment that uses the lining of the abdomen, called the peritoneum, and a cleaning solution called dialysate to clean the blood. The dialysate absorbs the waste and fluid from the blood, using the peritoneum as a filter. In hemodialysis, a dialysis machine and a special filter are using to clean the blood. Laughter said the blood is pumped out one arm and back into the other arm once it's gone through a filter.

During the day, he also has to complete two manual dialysis bags, which takes about two hours. Laughter said that's 14 hours a day for dialysis.

Due to the progression of the disease, Laughter hasn't worked since 2016. His full-time job is taking care of himself. However, before he could even get on the transplant list he has to lose some weight. His goal weight was 280 pounds. In 2018, to help obtain this goal, Laughter had a gastric sleeve surgery to limit how much he eats by pinching his stomach.

After the surgery, he had to undergo two weeks of hemodialysis. Then it was back to peritoneal dialysis.

"We had a pretty rough winter," Laughter said.

When Laughter was shoveling snow, he caused a hernia, which had to be repaired because of it interfered with his peritoneal dialysis. A surgery was done to repair the damage and two weeks after that he was on hemodialysis. Then, a stitch popped and interfered with the peritoneal dialysis causing it to leak into his tissue.

"So back to Utah," his mother, Penny Laughter, said. "That was a couple of day in the hospital."

He had hemodialysis for 30 days and then back to peritoneal dialysis. He then found out he had suffered a pulmonary embolism and a blood clot was in his lung. This resulted in a life flight trip to Salt Lake City.

After six days in the hospital, he was able to come home.

The transplant

In January, Laughter had started the process of getting approved for the kidney transplant and he was approved in March. He then received a phone call from his sister who told him her best friend from high school was a kidney donor match and wanted to donate a kidney to him. Her name is Rachelle Morris and Laughter knew her.

Laughter called her his "angel on earth." Laughter said she called him and asked him what day would be OK with him to have transplant.

"I told her 'whichever day you want I will be ready,"' Laughter said.

They set a date: Sept. 19.

Then he received a call from Morris again. Morris told him she had heard about a kidney swap program and how her kidney was more of a match for another lady, while her son was a better match for Laughter. She asked Laughter what he thought.

"We decided we could help this family out too," Laughter said. "We'll all be in the hospital at the same time. It's all going to be a big party."

"I kind of use humor to cope," Laughter said.

After the surgery, Laughter will stay in the hospital for four to six weeks. He will also make several trips over the months to make sure his body is accepting the kidney.

In order to pay for all the medical-related expenses, including traveling and medications, a dinner fundraiser is scheduled to take place at the Eagles on Friday from 4-8 p.m. For $6, residents will receive a drink, pulled pork sandwich, or sloppy Joe, chips and a dessert. They can also purchase raffle tickets for a chance at prizes.

Laughter said that even though he has insurance, one medication alone will cost $1,700 a month.

If is doesn't take all of the prescribed medication it body could reject the kidney. With the surgery quickly approaching, Laughter has mixed emotions.

"I'm excited and happy that I met my goal and may finally get back to some normalcy in my life and get back to work," he said. "I just want to get my life back."

Laughter said he knows the road will not be easy, but it's better than 14 hours of dialysis each day.

"On the opposite side of that. I'm scared," Laughter said.

"And not even for me, but my donor."

Those who want to help, but can't attend the dinner can always put money into the Laughter Transplant Fund at Trona Valley.

 

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