Dana Richman’s son Joey waited months for a kidney donor, and finally found one. Joey was on the mend after New Tampa resident and former MMA fighter Mike Miller stepped forward and donated a kidney, but then, he got sick again.
This time, though, it was cancer.
And, in the middle of a series of touch-and-go stays in the hospital, with Dana unable to work due to the volume of her son’s doctor’s appointments and wondering if Joey would even make it through the night, she received news that the home she shares with her sons Joey, Jason and Jake was headed for foreclosure.
“Can you give me five minutes to catch my breath,’’ Dana wondered aloud.
Once again, Joey, a Wiregrass Ranch High grad and hopeful University of South Florida Student, is in a life-altering battle, and his mother and brothers stand firmly in his corner, along with a good number of Wesley Chapel residents.
Joey, 22, whose #AKidneyForJoey hashtag campaign to help him find a donor drew a lot of attention earlier this year, including a story we wrote in our Apr. 8 issue. Joey got his kidney, thanks to Miller, at the time a New Tampa resident and fledgling mixed martial artist.
And, for a few days — especially the first few days after his April 20 surgery — Joey was feeling terrific, hopeful that he had beaten Allport’s Syndrome, a genetic condition that causes hearing loss and kidney failure. In fact, his new kidney had started functioning immediately, even before doctors had a chance to close him up.
But by June, he had started feeling fatigued again. His esophagus was bothering him, and he thought it might be related to ulcers. According to Dana, she was told that her son was fine, and that his body was still adjusting to the new kidney. His medications were tweaked, he was no longer on dialysis and Joey continued to recover, still confident he was inching closer to normal.
But, after helping his brothers fix a hole in the roof of their home, Joey says he felt dehydrated and weak.
“He spent the weekend curled up on the couch from pain,’’ Dana says.
He was taken to the hospital on July 5, where doctors found lesions on his esophagus. They were sent off for biopsies and Joey was sent home.
On July 9, the phone rang. “They just said he needed to get back to the hospital immediately,” Dana says.
When Dana and Joey returned to Tampa General, the news was bad — he had lymphoma, a form of cancer that affects the immune system.
Dana says the doctors told her the cancer was a quick and aggressive form, and a direct complication of the kidney transplant. Joey remained in the hospital the rest of the month, and he had to be taken off the immune suppressants he was on that prevented his body from attacking his new kidney.
Dana claims the kidney transplanted into her son was not a perfect match after all, and that it had the virus that causes mononucleosis. Because Joey was on immune suppressants, there was nothing to stop the mono from spreading.
“One doctor told me there was a 1 percent chance of something like this happening,’’ Dana says. “She said he hadn’t seen this in 20 years.”
Joey was crestfallen. “The diagnosis was pretty traumatic for him,’’ Dana says. He told me, ‘No matter what I do, I keep winding up on death’s doorstep.’’’
Dana says his condition quickly worsened, and it was “hour-by-hour” — his white blood cells had bottomed out and he wasn’t responding at one point.
The few moments of peace he and his family had enjoyed immediately after the surgery was now gone, after months of believing he was getting closer to being in the clear.
It was during this time that Dana says she was told a forbearance agreement she had gotten, which would have delayed the mortgage payments on her family’s home while she went through the kidney donation process, was no longer approved. The mortgage company told her she was $15,000 behind and in foreclosure. She says a lawyer stepped forward and is currently helping her resolve the issue.
The home, she said, means a lot to her and the boys. That’s why Joey was repairing the roof ahead of a big storm. She is going through a difficult divorce, she says, and this is where Dana and the boys have decided to rebuild a new life.
It Takes A Village
Dana wouldn’t want to be anyplace else, she says. The outpouring of support she received when Joey was in need of a kidney was breathtaking, but this time, it has been even greater.
Organized mostly through the 11,000-member Wesley Chapel Community Facebook page, a number of fundraisers have been planned by the likes of 900 Degrees Woodfired Pizza (see ad on pg. 36), with owner Steve Falabella agreeing to give 25 percent of all sales on Aug. 23 to the family.
Other Wesley Chapel businesses, some selling jewelry, massages, clothing alterations, shirts and aesthetics treatments, have all donated portions of their sales during August to the Richmans.
Pinot’s Palette (see ad below) is hosting an event Saturday, August 27, with 20 percent of sales donated. There is a GoFundMe page at GoFundMe.com/akidneyforjoey, and the community has pitched in to organize a “meal train” to bring daily meals to the family through the TakeThemAMeal.com site.
“It has been amazing,’’ Dana says.
And the news is getting better.
Joey now is undergoing chemotherapy. He is halfway through a six-round dosage, receiving one every three weeks. The tumors are shrinking; his hair has started to fall out.
“He’s doing good,’’ Dana says.
His new kidney is functioning at 100 percent. He is back on low-dose immune suppressants, and the mono is gone.
Dana says the doctors tell her that there is a good chance he will keep the kidney, and a 70-80 percent chance they will kill the cancer, although there is a higher risk from here on out he may redevelop it in the future.
Joey’s spirits are up and he hopes to take some online courses this semester at USF.
“He just wants to be healthy and normal again, it’s all he wants,’’ Dana says.
“He’s one tough cookie.”
If you want to donate, visit GoFundMe.com/akidneyforjoey. To visit some of the contributors to Joey’s recovery, check out the Wesley Chapel Community Facebook page.
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