Soldier joins mom's battle for life.Angie Shattuck, who has been a diabetic diabetic /di·a·bet·ic/ (-bet´ik) 1. pertaining to or affected with diabetes. 2. a person with diabetes. di·a·bet·ic adj. 1. since childhood, started having kidney problems and high blood pressure when she gave birth to her son, Kurt, 21 years ago. Her condition worsened over the years, and the possibility that she might someday some·day adv. At an indefinite time in the future. Usage Note: The adverbs someday and sometime express future time indefinitely: We'll succeed someday. Come sometime. need a kidney transplant kidney transplant or renal transplant Replacement of a diseased or damaged kidney with one from a living relative or a legally dead donor. The former's tissue type is more likely to match, reducing the chance of rejection; but removal puts the donor at risk, became evident--so evident, that one year Kurt gave her a coupon she could redeem redeem v. to buy back, as when an owner who had mortgaged his/her real property pays off the debt. The term also refers to paying the amount due and all charges after a foreclosure (due to failure to make payments when due) has begun. for one kidney. "I was 13 and I wanted to get my mom something for Christmas," Kurt told a reporter for the Midland (Michigan) Daily News. "I've known for a long time that she was going to need a kidney one day." During the last three years, Mrs. Shattuck's condition worsened. Doctors started viewing a kidney transplant as the only alternative to starting dialysis dialysis (dīăl`ĭsĭs), in chemistry, transfer of solute (dissolved solids) across a semipermeable membrane. Strictly speaking, dialysis refers only to the transfer of the solute; transfer of the solvent is called osmosis. treatments in the very near future. As is normal in such cases, they began matching tissue to find a suitable donor. It turned out that Kurt, now 21, was the best match. However Kurt, who is a member of the Army National Guard's 1073rd Maintenance Company, based in Greenville, Michigan Greenville is a city in Montcalm County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 7,935 at the 2000 census. Population has since dwindled due to factory closings in area. , was in Kuwait and would soon be sent to Iraq. Mrs. Shattuck worked through the Red Cross to explain her situation to her son's military commanders, and Kurt was soon sent home for surgery. When asked about what her son's gift meant to her, Mrs. Shattuck was overcome with emotion and couldn't reply. Her husband Brian had to speak for her: "She gave him life and in return he gave her life." Kurt still plans to continue where he left off. "My unit's over there. That's my second family," he told the reporter. "They need me over there." |
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