“I was just so lucky,” Hause said. “It’s completely life-changing.”
Hause and Schultz joined Pi Beta Phi sorority while they were students at Ohio State University.
After graduation, Hause worked mostly in commercial real estate, living in Phoenix for 11 years before moving to Charlotte, North Carolina, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In September 2023 she went to the hospital after she began experiencing extreme fatigue, numbness in her legs below the knees, differences in urination and frequent eye blinking.
Test after test led to her diagnosis of end stage renal disease, which Hause said is end stage chronic kidney disease. Doctors said she had to start dialysis immediately.
“It came out of nowhere. I had previously been super healthy, active,” she said.
According to the American Kidney Fund, the disease can happen at any age, and the cause isn’t always determined.
Hause’s mom came down to Charlotte to help care for her for two months before her parents brought her back to Franklin.
“I had to move home and become fully dependent on my parents again at 36, which is extremely hard, not to mention facing this chronic deadly illness that just popped up out of nowhere and completely stumped my life,” she said.
At the time of her diagnosis, Hause knew nothing about kidney disease or dialysis. She searched online to see if there were other millennials going through the same thing — someone who could relate to her — but she was unable to find anything.
“So, I just started videotaping and recording my daily life and putting it up on Instagram just to show people what was going on,” she said.
She called dialysis “literally hell on Earth,” with treatments three to four times a week that require being connected to a machine for three and a half hours each time. There’s no way she could work while going through dialysis, which she said cost $129,000 a month.
For her, and many others in her situation, Medicaid was a lifesaver, covering the cost of dialysis and medications.
In April 2024, she became one of more than 100,000 people across the U.S. waiting for a kidney on the national registry.
“My doctors told me that my best chance for the longest life with a kidney would be a living donor,” she said. “How do you ask somebody for a kidney?”
She didn’t. Instead, she simply posted a pamphlet on social media about living organ donation.
Right away, Schultz messaged her, saying she was interested, not knowing for sure it was for Hause. Schultz said she already had been open to the idea of an altruistic donation after listening to podcasts over the years.
“I had seen Jess’ stories and she was so brave to share what it was like to be on dialysis,” she said. “And just thinking about someone who’s so full of life and sunshine having to be going through dialysis, it was just heartbreaking.”
Schultz tested in secret, and Hause said she never followed up with her or anyone else who asked how to help because she didn’t want anyone to feel guilty for deciding against it or to feel bad about not being a match.
In mid-June, Schultz received the news that would forever bind her family to Hause’s.
“I was in total shock,” Hause said of the FaceTime call from Schultz that went viral on TikTok. “It was two days after my birthday so I thought she was calling to say ‘happy birthday.’”
But when Schultz mentioned the doctors said they could start scheduling the transplant surgery, “that’s when it hit me,” Hause said.
“That’s a FaceTime phone call that I’ll never forget,” she said.
Schultz, who works as an attorney for Franklin County Common Pleas Court, donated her left kidney the morning of Dec. 13 to her sorority sister at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati. She was discharged the following afternoon, and she said her recovery mainly consisted of a lot of fatigue for three or four weeks.
“The transplant team was so amazing. They prepare you for everything so you know what to expect and you don’t get worried afterwards,” she said.
Schultz also had full support from her husband and family, though she said her mother admitted she was apprehensive at first before learning more about the process.
Their living donation story did not just unite Hause’s family with Schultz’s.
“Sorority sisters we hadn’t heard from in years, we reconnected,” Hause said. “It really brought people together.”
Medicaid also was instrumental to the transplant surgery. It covered the surgery and testing for Hause, and all of Schultz’s testing and surgery.
“It gives you peace of mind when you’re the donor knowing you’re not going to get a big huge surprise bill at the end, that it was all taken care of,” she said.
The only thing Schultz had to worry about was taking time off from work. Fortunately, her employer allowed her to use Family Medical Leave Act time for the testing, surgery and recovery, but this is not the case everywhere.
That’s why Schultz and Hause spoke to staff members for U.S. Sens. Jon Husted and Bernie Moreno as well as U.S. Rep. Mike Carey, all Ohio Republicans, about the Living Donor Protection Act.
“That bill would allow (FMLA to be used for living donors) nationally in all states, and it also would protect living donors from being discriminated against by life insurance companies, health insurance companies because of the donation,” Schultz said.
They also spoke about the importance of Medicaid, which is facing potential cuts, and organ donation in general.
With more than 100,000 people waiting for a kidney, it can be years before someone finds a match.
“There’s 13 people that die every single day waiting for a kidney,” Hause said.
She and Schultz said they wish more people knew how easy it is to donate, and that living donors can live a full life with one kidney.
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