Posted: 6/21/06
Waitress gives more than just good service
 Back row (r to l): John Kroll, April Glassing, Matt Anderson, Debbie Anderson, Sue Dyson with Glassingís son Austin. Front: David ìBig Dî Peterson, Glassingís daughter Arianna, Harry Dyson, Kelsey Vicnorek, Deanna Graber. Not pictured are Lori Turner, Mindy Hansen, Jordan Wyne, Amanda Cash and Stephen Clifford. |
By Patrick Tepoorten
Youíd say you got treated well if your waitress kept your coffee cup full or put an extra dollop of whipped cream on your pie. But how about giving you a kidney?
Mother and daughter duo Debbie Anderson and Mindy Hansen, co-owners of the Stacy Country Cafe, have a lot of people they want to thank.
With things settling down from a month-long ordeal that had them trying to balance a desire to be with a loved one and the need to keep a business running, things have been tough. Luckily, the crew at the Country Cafe was there for them in ways difficult to quantify.
For Anderson and Hansen, the thank yous begin with one particular waitress.
Andersonís son, Hansenís brother, Matt Anderson, 24, of North Branch has suffered with diabetes since he was a child. As he progressed in years so did the affects of the disease on his body. It became apparent a few years ago that he would need a kidney transplant. After two years looking for a donor and on the verge of needing regular dialysis, a donor was finally found.
Enter April Glassing, 24, also of North Branch. She and her fiance John Kroll are both employed at the cafe, she as a waitress and he as a cook. Upon learning that she and Anderson shared a blood type, Glassing decided to go through a battery of tests that would determine compatibility for donorship. Indeed, she was compatible.
With two small children of her own - Arianna, 3, and Austin, 7 months - Glassing hardly struggled with the decision to give Anderson, who she had never even met, a kidney.
After discussing it with Kroll she decided she could do nothing else. ìIt was an easy decision,î she said last Wednesday. ìKnowing that I could do it, how could I not?î
So, Glassing and Matt Anderson underwent surgery on May 26: Glassing to have a kidney removed and Anderson to have one implanted. The surgery was a success with Andersonís new kidney functioning immediately.
Both are doing well, although Anderson had an allergic reaction to anti-nausea medication and his life hung in the balance for two days shortly after the surgery. He reported that he is feeling better since the surgery though. ìI have more energy and I have my appetite back,î he said.
Anderson is on powerful anti-rejection drugs and has been told that his body could reject the kidney at any time in his life, but so far so good.
For her part, Glassing is sore. Very sore. Laughing causes her pain, as does coughing, which a recently acquired cold isnít helping. Still, she is very much on the road to recovery.
Debbie Anderson credits Glassing with nothing short of a miraculous act. ìI want to thank her personally for saving my sonís life,î she said.
But the story doesnít end here.
With both Debbie Anderson and Hansen unable to run the cafe while busy caring for Matt, Glassing in surgery recovery and Kroll responsible for taking care of the two little ones, the Country Cafe was suddenly missing four of its 12 employees.
In order to make up for the loss of a third of the staff, the remaining employees took up the slack and kept the cafe running smoothly through the entire ordeal, giving everyone involved with the surgery the time they needed to recover.
ìThey are excellent employees,î said Kroll. ìThere were barely any phone calls from employees and there were no complaints from customers.î
Debbie Anderson was overwhelmed by the way her employees rose to the occasion. ìThey did much more than their fair share and everything turned out beautiful.î
Speaking for herself and Hansen, Anderson expressed a deep appreciation for the Country Cafeís remaining eight employees, whose hard work made a difficult and stressful time a lot easier to bear. ìWe are just so grateful to them,î said Anderson.
Things are just now starting to settle down at the cafe. It could have been a very difficult and overwhelming situation for everyone concerned. Instead, thanks to a waitress who produced a kidney and a staff who ìminded the store,î the Stacy Country Cafe hardly missed a beat.
Who says itís hard to find good help these days?
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