Glenoaks Elementary volunteer credits his laid-back attitude with helping him through dialysis as he waits for kidney transplant
Michael Hermogeno carries around a lunch bag that reads “human organ transplant.”
It may come across as a joke, but it’s one of several creative and humorous ways he tells people he needs a kidney transplant.
Think a clothing line and mobile advertising.
“That’s my nature. I’ve been fortunate to be very chill and laid back,” Hermogeno said. “I try not to stress about it.”
The 45-year-old father of two daughters, photographer and school volunteer spends three days a week at Glendale Adventist Medical Center undergoing dialysis treatment.
It’s been his life for the past year, and it all started with a bout with acute kidney failure in 2011.
Hermogeno sits for hours on a La-Z-Boy chair while surrounded by dozens of patients who are also strapped to dialysis machines.
The ordeal is taxing, leaving most feeling extremely fatigued with muscle cramps.
Hermogeno said he’s known people who’ve stopped coming, which means there’s a good chance they died because of skipping dialysis.
“I see it all the time. People just give up,” he said.
But that’s not something Hermogeno says he plans to do, though he is in a race against time.
His likely wait for a matching kidney is anywhere between eight and 14 years, and continuing dialysis for that long could prove to be too much for his heart to take.
“The longer I’m on dialysis, the more stress it is on my heart,” Hermogeno said. “It’s going to cause more blockages.”
Hermogeno stands out from other patients around him. He has a large Mohawk and is covered in tattoos, a look that’s led to him becoming a favorite with kids, especially when he reads to them in the library at Glenoaks Elementary School.
He also rides around in a large pickup truck with oversized wheels.
“The kids get a kick out of me because I’m the cool dad with a Mohawk and a monster truck,” Hermogeno said.
School librarian Linda Guzik said Hermogeno used to come in three times a week, but he’s had to cut back, which is a shame because he’s naturally good with the students. Aside from reading to them, he’s also used his photography skills to help with the school’s yearbook.
“He’s super kind, a generous family man with a very generous heart and spirit,” Guzik said.
But as much as Hermogeno enjoys his volunteer work and his day job of taking head shots, he’s had to cut back because of his treatment’s physical toll.
However, his family does help him in monitoring his condition. Even his 6-year-old daughter, Mia, has learned how to use a blood-pressure machine.
To speed up his search for a kidney, he’s spreading the message by printing T-shirts and bumper stickers with a cartoon likeness of himself.
So far, Hermogeno has had a handful of strangers volunteer to be donors, though there hasn’t been a match yet.
The fact that people he’s never known have stepped up to the plate helps him keep at his quest.
“It’s so motivating, it’s brought me to tears,” Hermogeno said. “Who would have thought random people who read your story would be willing to give up a part of their body? … If I get a donor out of this, that’s awesome, but just the fact that they bothered is more overwhelming to me.”
--
Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com
Twitter: @ArinMikailian
