Isabelle Perkett got her kidney!

By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor

Isabelle Perkett, the 17-year-old Lake George student profiled in The Chronicle who was suddenly diagnosed with renal failure last December — she has received her kidney transplant.

“I feel great and I am so grateful to my donor and for all my friends, family and community supporting me through all of this,” Isabelle says.

Mom Donna Metivier Perkett tells The Chronicle, “We are beyond thrilled that this happened so quickly, and so incredibly grateful to our organ donor and to the amazing transplant team at Albany Medical Center.

“They truly do work magic!”

How it happened, Mrs. Perkett tells us: “On Tuesday, May 10, at 3 p.m., I was in my kitchen preparing strawberries for dinner when my phone rang. …It was the transplant Doctor from Albany Medical Hospital.

“He said we have the perfect kidney available for Isabelle. Please come down as soon as you can for transplant. OMG!

“Our bag was packed as we had been instructed to do and I quickly ran to get Isabelle, who was staying after school.”

At Albany Med, “We were welcomed to the transplant floor. The staff was so lovely and really helped Isabelle to calm down and feel comfortable about the procedure. Isabelle was definitely not prepared for this to happen so quickly and she was not shy about sharing her feelings with anyone willing to listen, plus she was very nervous and scared.

“She had hoped to complete her junior year and get the transplant sometime this summer.

“We knew the transplant would take place in the middle of the night because that is when the transplant team can get the operating room time.

“Finally after what seemed like weeks, she was wheeled down to the OR at 4:30 a.m. The monitor in the waiting area indicated the procedure officially started at 5:55 a.m. on Wednesday, May 11.

“I sat and watched that monitor for what seemed like 3 weeks!” Mrs. Perkett said.

The procedure was completed by 9:30 a.m. Doctors reported that the kidney “pinked up” immediately, Mrs. Perkett says. “They were very pleased.”

Isabelle slept until 7:30 at night, “when she woke up and the true Isabelle was back!,” Mom says. “She asked for food and water, which was quickly denied, and she also wanted to get out of bed.

“She got up that night several times which definitely helps with recovery. She was a little sore, but she kept saying, ‘That was not bad at all!’”

“She REALLY wanted to eat the next day, so they said Okay. She managed to polish off more than three meals with no side effects.”

Now, Isabelle begins high doses of immunosuppressants that she will take for the rest of her life, which she also is tolerating “very well,” Mrs. Perkett says.

By Friday, the doctors said she was doing so well she could go home, Mom reports.

At home on Saturday, Mrs. Perkett said, “She looks better than ever. She feels great, is getting around just fine, is not sleeping any extra or taking any pain medication. She has just picked up where she left off.”

Isabelle will finish her junior year remotely, and plans to return for her senior year in person in the Fall. However, for the next four months she needs to stay away from people and crowds.

“She will have many appointments and needs to get bloodwork four times a week for a while until all her medications are regulated and they can watch for possible infection or rejection.”

Love and support; Donate!

Mrs. Perkett says, “Since this all started we have been absolutely amazed at all the love and support we have received from family, friends and strangers, both near and far. It has been the most amazing outpouring of love anyone could ever imagine and we are so grateful. Especially to our community we say ‘Thank You!’

“Thank for the cards, the donations and for caring.

“As soon as Isabelle is back to 100% we will begin campaigning to get more people to be organ donors.

“It is amazing what the gift of life looks like, and so many people are waiting. Isabelle was very fortunate that she is under 18, so she did not have to wait for her kidney, but most people wait many years to get their gift.”

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