MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – A Middleton woman is living a healthy life after 50 years of battling kidney diseases.
Mary Baliker is on kidney transplant number four and has been contending with kidney problems since the age of nine.
“So they finally sent me to the children’s hospital in madison and diagnosed me with kidney disease, at that time though, they didn’t really dialyze children, and they didn’t really transplant them, it was back in the early 70′s so I’m fortunate to be here today,” said Baliker.
Her first kidney transplant came from her brother, but it, unfortunately, did not last.
“I got the reoccurring kidney disease, so I needed another transplant after four years,” said Baliker. “It’s not uncommon to have reoccurrence of disease or to have rejections or infections that damage the kidneys.”
But her fourth transplant has held up for 22 years. She says all the extended