Gage Johnson
Editor-in-Chief
Robyn Langston Koschier, who attended Murray State in 2000, was diagnosed with an auto-immune kidney disease and has had a significant decline in her kidney function over the years.
The wife and mother of two children is looking to find a kidney for a transplant, which is something that people can wait years for.
Koschier spent four semesters at Murray State, where she met her husband of almost 14 years before moving to the Sunshine State in 2003.
Once arriving in Fort Myers, Florida, Koschier worked in restaurants and as a customer care manager of a local printing company while attending Edison State College. Shortly after, Koschier went in for a routine doctor’s appointment and her life changed forever.
“As common practice, they tested a urine sample and advised that there must have been a mistake,” Koschier said. “They took another sample and then called to advise that they were referring me to see a specialist as the amount of protein in my urine was off the chart high. I had no idea what this meant.”
Following the routine doctor’s appointment, she was scheduled for a renal biopsy, which eventually revealed that she had a condition called IgA Nephropathy, an autoimmune kidney disease.
With this disease, IgA deposits build up in the kidneys, causing inflammation that damages the kidney tissues. At the time of her diagnosis, Koschier only had mild kidney damage and continued with her schooling and professional career.
In 2011, Koschier was offered a job at a law firm as a litigation file clerk, and later that year graduated from Edison State College with an associates of arts degree. Although she was accepted to the University of Florida, she passed up the offer after receiving a promotion to litigation legal assistant. Her career took on a path of its own, and in 2017, so did her personal life.
“In 2017, after having issues with infertility, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl,” Koschier said. “In 2018, only 16 months later, my baby boy completed our family. Since that time, I have been promoted to regional office manager and I manage the Naples and Fort Myers offices of Becker.”
However, she continued to battle the disease as it progressed, from no visible symptoms early on to having to up the amount of medication Koschier was taking on a daily basis.
“In the beginning stages, the disease was certainly a silent disease,” Koschier said. “I had no real symptoms. However, when my kidneys became too inflamed, I would have to take medications to reduce the inflammation. During one flare up, I was prescribed a steroid medication. My body did not react with the steroid and I ended up in the ER with excessive swelling and pain. After that incident, my thyroid has never been the same. The kidney damage has also caused increased blood pressure, which can be difficult to control at times and, you guessed it, more medication. Last year, my kidney function began decreasing significantly.”
She later had another renal biopsy confirming that it was the progression of the autoimmune kidney disease, but more issues arose following the biopsy.
“I have had many complications since the biopsy, including multiple hospital stay, hematoma in the area around my kidney, high potassium levels and high blood pressure,” Koschier said. “I now have Stage 4 kidney disease and after a very thorough evaluation, I have been listed on the deceased donor transplant list. I am now starting to feel fatigued daily, which is part of the progression of the disease. As you can imagine, it is becoming more and more difficult to manage a full-time job, being the mom of a two-year-old and a four-year-old, being a wife and maintaining a household.”
With the complications arising, now the plan her family and team of doctors agree on is that Koschier’s best option is a transplant before the need for dialysis.
“This is very important to me since I have two small children,” Koschier said. “Getting regular dialysis treatments, usually three times a week for four or so hours at a time, will help my kidneys do their job and keep me alive, but a transplant would offer me more freedom and the ability to live a longer, healthier, more normal life. A transplant would also give me more time to do the things I enjoy most: spending time with my family and friends.”
In her appointments at the Cleveland Clinic Transplant Center in Weston, Florida, Koschier learned a great deal about the donor process, noting that there are two kinds of donors that can provide her with a donor kidney- a living donor and a deceased donor.
She was placed on the deceased donor list at the Cleveland Clinic, a list of 100,000 people. In her home state of Florida, the estimated wait time for a deceased donor kidney is three to five years.
Koschier said that many people die while waiting for a kidney from a deceased donor and that if she were to receive one, it would extend her life by approximately 10 years.
The alternative would be to receive a living donor kidney, which is something Koschier is uncomfortable asking others for, but knows it would give her the ability to see so much more of her children’s lives.
“Asking a family member or friend to consider donating a kidney to me is very difficult, but it greatly improves my chances of getting a healthy transplanted organ,” Koschier said. “A living kidney donation typically lasts longer and has much better function. Since I am a younger candidate, a living donor would help me live another 25-35 years as opposed to 10 years from a deceased donor. I want nothing more than to live long enough to see my children graduate college, get married and have beautiful grandchildren for me to spoil.”
Koschier not only hopes that by telling her story she will promote awareness for herself, but also others who have dealt with autoimmune kidney diseases.
“I think it is important to promote awareness of the necessity of organ donation, not only for myself but for others in similar or worse situations,” Koschier said. “I know that being a living donor is not an option for many, but you can still help. Consider being an organ donor after death and share in my efforts to promote awareness on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of people fighting for their lives every day.”
Koschier has a close friend who is an example of someone in a similar or worse situation and hopes to promote awareness through his story as well.
“An example of one of those fighting for their lives, is my good friend Matt (Zrebiec),” Koschier said. “I truly believe it is no coincidence that Matt and I crossed paths in our lives. He is a kind-hearted, fun loving man. Matt was born with one kidney and now his one kidney is failing. He has been on the deceased donor transplant list for over 3 years. He fights for his life daily by working a full-time job, being a loving and supportive husband and balancing his life of medications and dialysis trips 3 times a week for 3-4 hours each trip. Matt is in his mid-thirties and has a full life ahead of him.”
Stephanie Anderson, assistant professor of journalism and mass communications, met Koschier when they both attended Murray State in 2000 and worked at Ryan’s Steakhouse together.
“Robyn was always that friend who you could call no matter what you needed,” Anderson said. “If I needed a ride to work or $20 until payday or just needed someone to laugh with, Robyn was the person to call.”
Anderson has followed Koschier’s medical journey over the years on Facebook and hopes there is a fellow Racer who might be a match.
“I think the more people hear about her story the better chance she has of finding a living donor for a kidney,” Anderson said. “She has a precious family that needs her to be around for many years to come. I know Racer Nation is spread all over the world. I hope her story resonates with someone who can help save her life.”
Koschier said despite the hardships the disease has caused, she is still thankful for the love she has received from others.
“Even though I have struggled with this disease for years, I am blessed that I have family and friends that have shown support in many ways,” Koshcier said. “Even though you may not see an illness on the outside does not mean that people are not struggling on the inside.”
For those interested in being screened as a living donor for Koschier (12/19/1981) or Zrebiec (02/02/1985), visit https://ccflorida.donorscreen.org/ and enter their name and date of birth.
