The Dalles woman needs kidney

Now, the disease is after her kidneys.

Hogan was born and raised in The Dalles. She graduated from Wahtonka High School in 1973, spent the late 70s in Virginia and returned to The Dalles in 1984.

In 1999, Hogan began having problems with her vision.

“I couldn’t read,” Hogan said. “Everything was a blur.”

She went to a doctor who diagnosed Hogan with retinopathy caused by Type 2 diabetes.

Hogan now has 20/200 vision, which makes her legally blind.

“They didn’t know how long I was diabetic because no one ever tested me,” Hogan said. “Years ago when I lived in Virginia, they told me back there that I was borderline but when you’re like 21, you don’t pay attention to things you should.”

Hogan began going to an endocrinologist once every three months for regular checkups.

In 2012, lab work showed both of her kidneys were failing.

In February 2013, Hogan got on the

Good Samaritan kidney transplant list, which has an average waiting period of 32 months but can take much longer. Hogan knows someone in The Dalles who waited six years for a kidney.

Hogan doesn’t have a waiting list that she can watch her name climb up like drawing a number at a restaurant or the DMV. Instead, Good Samaritan looks at how a recipient matches up with a donor.

A match must have the same blood type or universal 0. Hogan has one of the rarest—B negative.

Hogan’s immediate family can’t help. Her two brothers also have diabetes and her husband Ed is undergoing his own battle with colon cancer.

Since Hogan’s Medicare insurance covers all costs, donating a kidney wouldn’t cost a person anything financially.

Anyone interested in giving their kidney can call Hogan directly at 541-993-5523 or the Legacy Good Samaritan Kidney Transplant Program office in Portland at 503-413-6555.

“I just thought if more people know I might find one sooner,” Hogan said. “I’ve even thought about getting a billboard or something to get it out there. I saw a guy in Portland on the street with a sign and he got one.”

Until Hogan gets a kidney, she’s doing everything she can to be healthy, which means a strict diet low in phosphorus and going for dialysis three days a week at Fresenius Medical Care North America’s location in The Dalles.

Hogan spends three and half hours each visit getting the dirty blood in her body removed, cleaned through a machine and then put back in.

Hogan doesn’t miss an appointment. She can’t afford to and her husband won’t let her.

“I was told anytime you miss, it’s one day closer to death, so I haven’t missed,” Hogan said.

“I’ve seen older people who are going down and they quit for a week, they die within that week. It’s that fast.”

While her strict dialysis schedule has kept Hogan from traveling, she knows exactly where she wants to go once she gets a kidney—Hawaii to visit her brother’s family.

A kidney would also give Hogan the energy to volunteer at her church, where she was once heavily involved in the meals program at Covenant Christian.

“I would be able to live again,” Hogan said.