'My Little Boy Needs A Mama': Orland Mom In Desperate Need Of Living Kidney Donor

ORLAND PARK, IL — An Orland Park woman finds herself asking for the public's help, as she battles kidney failure in her previously transplanted organ—and is in dire need of a living donor for a new one.

Orland Park mom Cheryl Doyle received a donated kidney and pancreas nine years ago, and the organs have functioned perfectly—until one didn't.

Doyle, who at 21 years old was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, learned in January 2024 that she would need another new kidney, due to her donor having been exposed to a common virus that impacts transplant patients. Known as cytomegalovirus (CMV), it has hit Doyle three times since 2016, and coupled with COVID-19, has damaged the donated kidney to the point of failure.

Now years after doctors placed the organ from a deceased donor, she is in dire need of a new one. This time, she said, it must come from a living donor. Life with a new kidney means more time with her 7-year-old son.

"It’s tough," Doyle said. "Who wants to go through this again?"

Fit and otherwise healthy at the time of her diabetes diagnosis, the first transplant enabled her to lead a full life.

"Diabetes was not going to stop me," she said. "I had a great job, moved out of state, I tried to live my best life—and I did. I was doing great."

Employed in the pharmaceutical industry at the time, Doyle learned that stress was a marker for her condition. She left her job and shifted into a new career. She met the man who would become her husband.

Prior to her first transplant, Doyle's blood sugar plummeted one day as she was in her car, and she only remembers being pulled from her vehicle. Doctors learned she was in kidney failure, and a transplant was critical. She moved back to Orland Park, and was placed on the waitlist. For a year, she ate healthy and managed to stay off of dialysis. Then the call came.

"I was very fortunate—my very first phone call, I got my transplant," she said.

She and husband Dan have since had son Dillon, 7.

"My life’s been great," she said. "I was able to become a mom. My son is 7 years old—becoming a mom has been the greatest gift."

Doyle found herself struggling again in January 2024. Doctors learned her donor had been exposed to CMV, and after three bouts with it, her kidney function "bottomed out."

"I was going to fight," she said. "Nobody’s going to tell me 'no.'"

Daily dialysis became necessary.

"I know it keeps me alive," she said. "I know I’ve got to do it."

Doyle is hooked up to a dialysis machine at home, every night, for nine hours.

"I’m on a very regimented schedule—the world comes to a stop every night at 9 p.m.," she said. "I have to be in bed, connected to a machine at a certain time every night."

Still, she can feel how the failing organ is impacting her health.

"I just want to live, and I know I’m getting worse," she said. "I can feel it. ... I am not the person who feels sorry for myself. I have a pretty good attitude, and I don’t want to lose that, and I don’t want to lose faith and hope that this is going to happen again.

"I suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out). I always want to be involved in everything. I’m a fighter, but I’ve thrown in the towel for my social life. I suffer from gut issues, a lot of different side effects that are brought on by kidney disease."

More worrisome, she has found, is the fear her son seems to be feeling.

"He’s a very smart little boy, and he asks a lot of questions," Doyle said, "and I just don’t want it to hinder his childhood."

He asks if she's going to die, Doyle said.

"'No time soon,'" she reassures him, optimistically.

Doyle is working with the Northwestern Medicine Organ Transplant Center to help locate a living donor. She is O Negative blood type—but with advancements in treatment and technology, the donor and recipient do not have to be an exact match.

Requirements to be a living donor:

• Be over age 18
• Be in good health, both physically and emotionally
• Undergo a thorough evaluation process
• Understand and accept the surgery and its risks, including medical, psychosocial and financial implications
• Volunteer to be a transplant donor
• Understand and accept that the outcome of the transplant might not be as expected
• Be able to tell the team clearly your reasons for donating once you are aware of all of the benefits and risks

When a living person donates a kidney, the donor and recipient surgeries are done on the same day. The operation performed to remove the healthy kidney from the donor is called a nephrectomy.

These surgeries are done using a laparoscopic, or minimally invasive, approach. Patients undergoing laparoscopic kidney removal have significantly less pain and a shorter hospital stay, and return to normal life much faster than those who undergo the more traditional “open” procedure.

Still, it's a major surgery that carries some risks.

To be tested as a possible match for Doyle, specifically, potential donors will need some of Doyle's personal information. Those interested should contact her via email at mymommyneedsakidney@gmail.com. She is thankful for anyone who's even willing to try.

"My little boy needs a mama around for a long time," she said.