Darci Seipke, a 1998 Lake Orion graduate, is best described as outgoing and friendly.
She loves scrap booking, animals, gardening and little kids.
She loves cooking and is award-winning for her breads.
She is a self-described Winnie the Pooh fanatic, a big Kid Rock fan and a neat freak.
She is also a Type I Diabetic, diagnosed when she was three and a half years old.
After battling with this disease for over 20 years, her body has taken a beating and her kidneys can’t take much more fight. She needs a kidney donation.
‘I use to be on the go and never sit down and now I sleep all the time,? said Darci, who is unable to work due to doctor’s orders and can no longer participate in some of her favorite hobbies.
According to her mom, Pam, they were told in 2002 that one of her kidneys was failing and in February of this year, they got that same message about the other one. Now, they are starting their efforts to find Darci a donor. They are hoping that the community they have been a part of their whole lives will help them in their fight.
Both Darci and her sister, Heather, along with their mother and their aunt, all graduated from Lake Orion High School. Darci’s grandparents, Joyce and the late Hugh Brady, owned and ran Brady’s Market in downtown Lake Orion. Later, Hugh helped run Smith Silo Co. in Oxford, as well as volunteer for multiple local organizations including the Fire Department, the Masons, the Lions Club and serving on the Lake Orion School Board. Also, Darci’s mother, Pam, has worked as the clerk for the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department Orion Substation since 1996.
Darci and her family say that they need help in two different senses.
First, Darci has Blue Cross Blue Shield, which only pays 70 percent of base things. This does not include special testing or doctor visits. Her prescription coverage caps at $2,500 a year, and Pam said that with the price of Darci’s medicine, this means that the coverage runs out around October. Monthly, her medicine costs about $450 to $700, and the family has to cover this out of pocket for the last few months of the year when the insurance money has run out.
To help offset the cost of Darci’s medical bills, the family has set up a fund at Oxford Bank. Donations can be made at any one of the six locations and are tax-deductible.
In addition to the fund, Darci’s mom and aunt have various benefit fundraisers in planning stages and hope that the community will support them at these events.
Second, and most importantly, Darci needs a kidney. According to her mom, in order to donate, you need to match Darci in various areas. First, the doctors compare blood types and then six other areas to make a match.
‘Please register to be a donor,? said Pam. ‘If you aren’t viable to help Darci, maybe you’re viable to help someone else.?
Darci is O Positive, which means that she needs someone who is O Positive to donate.
It’s a little ironic, Pam said, because since Darci is the universal blood type, if she was healthy, she could give blood to anyone, but she’s the one who needs help and she can only receive a donation from someone who is O Positive.
These aren’t the only two ways to help, Pam said, as they could also use any volunteers that want to help in planning various benefits.
‘If you can’t give money and you can’t give a kidney, there is always still something you can do to help,? she said.
They have tentative plans for a spaghetti dinner and a bowl-a-thon, but are also looking for other ideas for possible fundraisers and help in planning.
The Review will continue to cover Darci’s progress in finding a donor, but in the meantime, Darci has a word of advice to parents.
‘If your child has an extensive thirst and has to go to the bathroom a lot, get them checked out,? she said.
If you are interested in helping Darci and her family in fundraising or testing to be a donor, her mom asks that you please call her at home at (248)693-9818 or on her cell at (248)721-1647.
For those interested in making a donation to the Darci Seipke Benefit Fund, Pam said to please go to one of the Oxford Bank locations in Lake Orion, Oxford, Clarkston, Addison Oaks, Ortonville or Dryden and make a donation.