Isabelle Perkett, LG student, 17, in kidney failure, needs transplant

By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor

West Mountain ski area has organized a fund-raiser this Sunday, April 10, for Lake George student Isabelle Perkett, 17, who needs a kidney transplant.

“We’re so grateful,” says her mom Donna Perkett that West Mountain came to her and offered the barbecue event, but “mostly I just want to get the word out to find kidney donors.”

Isabelle is the eighth of her nine children, four by birth and five adopted by Mrs. Perkett and her late husband Clark, who passed away suddenly from a heart attack in 2020. The family was the subject of a 2012 Chronicle story.

Isabelle’s story is unique, even in a family with “a lot going on,” Donna says. In December, the teen was feeling poorly, so Mom took her for a Covid test.

Donna said the physician’s assistant listened to Isabelle’s lungs and chest and asked, “Does she have a heart murmur?”

“No, what’s the Covid result?” Donna says she insisted. “I’m on my lunch break. Can I get back to work?”

“Shall I call you an ambulance?” reponded the PA.

What followed were a series of tests at the Glens Falls Hospital emergency room, followed by Isabelle being rushed to Albany Medical Center.

“It’s three days before Christmas. I’m still asking, ‘What about Covid?’ They’re telling me she needs a kidney transplant. ‘But I’m on my lunch break!’” Donna says she persisted.

What they discovered: Isabelle’s kidneys had never developed since her in fancy. She was in end-stage renal failure.

“That PA saved her life,” said Jen Met-ivier, Donna’s sister and the one who alerted The Chronicle to their story.

Their dad was the late, local writer Don Metivier. Mom is Laraine.

Two blood transfusions later, Isabelle was well enough to go home for Christmas. “She’s been doing well. She had a good winter. She even skied,” Donna says.

But, Isabelle is on dialysis — P.D. or peritoneal dialysis, it’s called — nightly for 10 hours while she sleeps.

To make it work, bed time is 8 p.m. — tough on an active teen, Mom says.

“She never once had a sick visit her entire life. Never needed medication. Her body just accommodated, until it couldn’t anymore.”

Isabelle is emphatic: “It’s a lot! It’s hard! I HATE this,” she wrote in a message to The Chronicle.

She also has to limit her diet to ease the burden on her kidneys: Nothing with phosphorus, including chocolate, ice cream or other dairy products. “It’s very constricting,” Donna says.

Monday, Isabelle was formally accepted into Albany Med’s transplant program and added to the national transplant registry.

“I started a Facebook group to raise awareness,” Donna said. It’s called Team Isabelle Kidney Warrior. Her sister also set up a Go Fund Me under the same heading, to help with medical expenses.

See both for donor registry info.

It’s been “heartwarming,” Donna says, “to have so many people support us through this.”

A living donor is preferable, as the procedure tends to be more successful and to last longer, Donna said. “Everyone has two kidneys, and can live with one,” she notes.

Isabelle’s siblings were tested and four are donor candidates. However, Donna says all are young women, and having only one kidney, while generally safe, can be a risk factor should they ever decide to have children.

Donor specs

What’s tough: Donna says Isabelle at her young age will need one kidney transplant, then the other. With an expected lifespan of 20 years for a donated kidney, Donna adds, Isabelle will likely need more than one series of transplants. “I’m hoping we can hold her sisters in reserve,” she says, frankly.

The specs: Donors need to have O type blood, negative or positive. Male or female healthy, can’t be overweight, only on one blood pressure medication, any age under 70 is acceptable.

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