When newlywed 28-year-old Lauren (Navarro) Norsworthy went into the hospital last year, thinking she had a simple case of pneumonia, but doctors quickly discovered devastating news…she was experiencing renal failure. The Navarro family is still desperately searching for a loving, generous person who is willing to become a living kidney donor for their daughter Lauren.
Lauren is the daughter of Jeff and Tricia Navarro of Devine. Lauren grew up in Devine and now lives in Fayetteville with her new husband and stepson Stetson.
Lauren’s mother, Tricia, hoped to be able to donate a kidney to her daughter, but sadly she isn’t able to.
“I just felt numb when they told me I couldn’t be her donor,” Tricia Navarro said in an interview, “but I know God has a better kidney out there for my beautiful daughter!”
“My daughter is now on peritoneal dialysis, which means she is connected to a machine every day for 10 ½ hours, as her kidneys are no longer functioning this is what she has to do to keep alive……There are 100,000+ people on the waiting list like Lauren, waiting for a deceased donor kidney. Time is not on her side. The average wait time is five years or more for a kidney from a deceased donor. However, there is another option: receiving a kidney from a living donor.”
Navarro recently sent out this plea, hoping to better inform others about becoming a living donor:
You might not know a lot about living donation – I know I didn’t before kidney disease affected my daughter’s life. Understandably, some people are afraid about the surgery and what living with one kidney will mean for them. Here’s some basic information about kidney donation:
• You only need one kidney to live a healthy, long life.
• Most donor surgery is done laparoscopically, meaning through tiny incisions.
• The recuperation period is usually fairly quick, generally two – four weeks.
• The cost of your evaluation and surgery will be covered by Lauren’s insurance. The hospital can give you extensive information on this.
• You will have a separate team of healthcare professionals to evaluate you as a living donor. Their job is to help you understand the risks and benefits and look out for YOUR best interests.
You can also learn more about living donation on the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) website: www.kidney.org/livingdonation or by contacting the NKF’s free, confidential helpline at 855.NKF.CARES (855.653.2273) or nkfcares@kidney.org. If you want to talk to someone who’s already donated a kidney, NKF can also help.
Thank you for taking the time to read Lauren’s story. If donating a kidney to Lauren is something you would like to consider, I would be happy to tell you more about her story and explore the process of determining if you are a match for Lauren. You can also inquire online at her transplant center:
Universitytransplantcenter.com.
• Then click the living donor tab and in the first paragraph click on health history questionnaire
• Then open kidney donor
• She is listed under Lauren Navarro
• Her Date of Birth is 09/19/90
• She is blood type 0+ (which means any type ) blood can be her donor) if you are not blood type “0” there are other options – there is a kidney swap program, where you donate to someone else that has a match for Lauren. This is all explained on the University’s website.
In an interview she added, “Watching my daughter after her diagnosis of End Stage Kidney Failure has made me so proud to be her mom,” Tricia Navarro said. “Most people that know her have witnessed how strong she has been throughout this past year. If you didn’t know she was sick – you wouldn’t be able to tell it by looking at her… She has faced this with such a strength that only God could have given her.”
Lauren (Navarro) attended Kindergarten through Sophomore year in Devine schools until moving to Stevens High School in San Antonio, where she graduated with the Class of 2009. She went on to play college softball at Midland College. Lauren recently got married this March to husband Ty Norsworthy, and they live in Fayetteville, TX with stepson Stetson.
If you want to help, you can call Lauren’s mother, Tricia Navarro at 210-632-9568, and or go to this website:
• Universitytransplantcenter.com
• click the living donor tab and in the first paragraph click on health history questionnaire
• open kidney donor
• name Lauren Navarro
• date of birth September 19 1990
You can fill out an application online, then the Transplant center will contact you and get them in for blood work. But the application is the first step to getting the process started.
