A diagnosis with no definitive cause attached to it leaves one local man fighting for his life.
It’s been nearly a year since Isaac Staub first started feeling extreme fatigue and began noticing dark bruising on his body, symptoms the then 24-year-old brushed off.
“I thought, ‘I’m just tired because it’s hot, I’ve got bruises because I work in the factory,” Isaac said. “I’m not paying attention, so finally my wife harped on me enough and said ‘hey, you need to go to the doctor.’”
That trip to the doctor would alter the course of Isaac’s life as blood panels showed his kidneys functioning at just four percent.
“Within the evening, I was at the local hospital here, Paris Community, and they ended up telling me basically my kidneys had shut down and sent me over to Union,” he said.
Isaac was placed on dialysis within hours, and within months, he was declared to be in end stage kidney failure, and received a peritoneal catheter.
“Basically, what it does is, you put fluid in it, and it’s up against this membrane, that membrane acts like a sponge and it’ll suck the bad toxins out of your body and put it in the fluid and then the fluid is then dispelled,” he explained.
Isaac is now on hold for a kidney transplant, technically cleared for the transplant list, but being held back by thyroid issues.
Through all of the uncertainty and shock, the young husband and father has remained strong and positive–a mindset he considers a necessity.
“It’s not just for me, it’s for her, it’s for our son, because if you don’t look at it positively you’re going to get swallowed up by it,” Isaac said.
Staub’s wife, Lacey says the circumstances have brought the close-knit family even closer.
“You’ve just got to be a lot more open with each other,” she said.
“If you go against the grain, it wears you down even more.”
“You’ve gotta be a team, it’s about being a team,” Isaac added.
And the Staubs say that team goes beyond their family to the community that they waited nine months to open up to about Isaac’s diagnosis, a community that immediately stepped in with fundraising efforts.
“It’s heartwarming to see a community come together like this to help somebody out,” Isaac said.
Now that the public is aware of his condition, Isaac said he wants to spread the message to other young people to keep on top of their health. And his message to those debating becoming donors?
“Check that box, because you never know when it’s gonna happen, and giving back to someone else,” he said. “It means the world to whoever receives your donation.
“Checking that box, one life can save eight lives,” Lacey added.
From 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Betty Jane’s Kitchen in Paris is having a Donut Day fundraising event for Isaac.
Isaac will undergo corrective surgery at the end of May to fix the thyroid issues that are keeping him from being fully cleared for that much needed transplant.
