By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
The circle of life completed a circuit for Linda Cekander Miller in October.
The Mahomet-Seymour graduate (Class of ‘76) found that some things which come around can come around again.
This is more than a tale about a woman in need of a kidney transplant receiving a living donation from another M-S graduate, but one 26 years her junior.
It’s a story about jump-starting the giving season with an unselfish act.
The Millers, Linda and Jim, live near Lake of the Woods Golf Course. As eldest daughter Sarah was growing up, friends would hang out at the family home, sometimes staying for meals as well as sharing rides to school or to assorted functions.
Sarah Miller was a member of the M-S Class of 2002 along with another 220-plus students.
One of them was Joel Shoemaker.
“Sarah was one of my best friends,” Shoemaker said. “We spent a lot of time together in the drama room.
“On field trips, we sat on the same seat in the bus.”
Linda Miller got to know Shoemaker as well.
“They were like peas in a pod,” Linda Miller said. “He spent quite a bit of time here.
“He was always welcome. I loved him. He was so much fun.”
Like families will do, they discussed issues that were on their minds.
As a teen-ager, Shoemaker was a part of some conversations.
“I knew for a while that Linda would need a kidney,” he said.
It was news that Linda Miller had learned as an 18-year-old.
She is the fourth generation in her family diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease. It also affected her great-grandmother, her grandmother and her mother.
For Linda Miller, it was on her mind for decades that she would eventually lose kidney function.
“Last summer, I took my granddaughter to Colorado,” Linda Miller said. “She said ‘You can’t do half of what you did last year.’
“I had a tough time. I didn’t have the endurance.”
By early in 2018, Linda Miller received the news that she knew was inevitable.
“My (kidney) function was low enough, I got on the transplant list,” she said. “I knew 30 years ago this was coming.”
That wasn’t all of the bad news she was given in January.
“They told me it could be five-plus years (to wait),” she said. “My kidney function was declining.
“I was afraid I’d be on dialysis before I found a pair.”
During the spring, word was circulated about her need. One story appeared in the Mahomet Daily.
Roni Daugherty — Joel Shoemaker’s sister — saw the online article and passed the information on to her brother.
“I didn’t know she had started the process of finding a donor,” Shoemaker said.
What he did know was what to do next.
He got tested — along with his sister — to see if he would be a match.
“I couldn’t believe two people from the same family volunteered,” Linda Miller said.
At the outset, Shoemaker didn’t even know his blood type — Miller needed type O — so he was more anxious than optimistic as he went through the series of tests.
“There were certainly hurdles,” Shoemaker said. “I don’t know for sure, but I felt like my blood was tested 40 times.”
The first draw was the hardest to schedule.
Shoemaker was sent the paperwork from Barnes-Jewish Hospital, in St. Louis.
“They sent a box of vials and said get blood in the vials and send them back,” he recalled. “I took it to the doctor’s office, but no one understood what it was.
“I went to a couple of quick care places and they said they needed an order to do this.”
Eventually, a friend in the medical profession filled the vials with his blood and he mailed the samples.
Meanwhile, Linda Miller declined one potential offer.
Her son-in-law was interested in donating, but she said no because, “Sarah might need it someday.”
A cousin wanted to help, but his blood type (A) eliminated him as a candidate.
“A lot of people my age wanted to, but couldn’t,” Linda Miller said.
Anyone with diabetes or a history of kidney stones could not be candidates.
“For the last two years, it was a constant worry,” Linda Miller said. “What’s going to happen?”
Soon, she had more potential donors than she needed.
Both Shoemaker and his sister received confirmation that they were matches.
Joel Shoemaker had no regrets in donating a kidney.
“It was very gratifying,” he said. “The fact that I was healthy enough to be able to do it, I felt grateful to be a part of it.
“For some reason, there was never a moment — no hesitation — since the minute I found out this was a thing. I’m happy it was a positive experience for Linda.”
Linda Miller, whose kidney function was down to 17 percent at the time of the transplant, is appreciative of Shoemaker’s gift.
“He’s my superhero and always will be,” she said. “It’s really a miracle.”
The surgery took place on Oct. 30, in St. Louis.
For Shoemaker, the director for the Illinois Prairie District Public Library in Woodford County, it was smooth sailing.
“When he was out of surgery, a couple hours later he was doing magic tricks for the staff,” Linda Miller said. “He went back to work six days later.”
From Shoemaker’s perspective, the procedure couldn’t have gone any better.
“I’m super-blessed by how remarkably easy the recovery was,” he said. “I was never above a 2 on the pain scale (from 1 to 10) and left the hospital a day earlier than they told me I would.”
At this point, Linda Miller has three kidneys in her body, but hopes her two original ones will be removed “in six to eight months,” adding, “they are uncomfortable and painful.”
She is still basically homebound, but is able to get out long enough for some limited activity. She is trying to walk 2 to 2 1/2 miles a day.
“I’m not up to the 4-mile mark that I did for the last 30 years,” she said. “If I overdo it, the next day I’m pretty worthless.”
The transplant is one of many reasons Linda Miller won’t soon forget 2018.
“I went to Africa for 16 days in March,” Miller said, “because it was on my Bucket List.
“It wasn’t really a vacation. It was an adventure.”
Also in March, a granddaughter was born.
In early October, a daughter was married in the Smoky Mountains.
The transplant took place at the end of October.
On Dec. 31, after 41 years as a nurse — the last 31 at Carle — Miller will retire.
“This renewed my faith in humanity,” Linda Miller said, “There are good people willing to help others.
“It’s not who I thought would have stepped up … my daughter’s best friend. It’s surreal.”
