Being a two time kidney transplant recipient, its been really difficult trying to stay active and live a healthy lifestyle as there are limitations to everything. This made becoming a geologist especially hard as well. There are limitations to what I can eat, how much weight I can carry (or lift at the gym), and with what kind of environments might be dangerous to my health. That’s why it is important to keep up with my health so that all the things that I CAN do is much more enjoyable.
I had my first transplant when I was 6 years old. Growing up as a child, I was never allowed to play any contact sports such as soccer or football because of the danger of being hit in the transplant area. Hence, I was never the active child. I lived a safe and sheltered life behind books and sheet music in school. As I grew older and discovered hiking trails, my kidney team warned me against overexertion. Building muscle secretes creatinine which is what they measure for kidney function in blood tests so any type of muscle building and muscle tearing would raise the creatinine. This caused a lot of concerns with my function numbers and there was a lot of back and forth of what I can do. When I got into geology and was exposed to hiking, I knew this was something I wanted to do. My kidney team at the time wasn’t fully supportive of my newfound passions, but they allowed me to pursue it with precautions of course.
I got sick in 2018 with a bad kidney infection that caused me to find another kidney team. This new kidney team completely supported my outdoor lifestyle and actually encouraged me to continue as they said being physically active is good for the kidney. That although its true muscle building does elevate creatinine levels, its not to the degree that my previous kidney team were concerned about so long as its stable. I absolutely LOVE my current team as they ensure that whatever time I have left on this Earth is filled with what makes me happy.
Since the kidney infection in 2018, my transplant kidney didn’t recover and the function began declining steadily over the next 3 years. I was eventually placed on the kidney transplant list and lived the next 3 years in denial about my declining health. I had dropped over 40lbs during the infection that I didn’t gain back, my appetite was almost gone, my strength was declining fast to the point that I couldn’t hike anymore, I was tired all the time and towards the end there I was vomiting randomly throughout the day. It was when I began vomiting when I accepted I was really sick. Being physically exhausted all the time was a different kind of tired that I’ve never felt before. It didn’t matter how many hours I slept, I’d wake up needing more sleep. It wasn’t a good time and I hated how weak I had become. Too weak to do the one thing I loved doing: hiking.
Finally, March of 2021 we received the call that a kidney was waiting for me. It so happened to be on National Kidney Day too (March 11). My cousin, who’s more like a brother since we grew up together, had signed up to be my donor in 2019. They put him through extensive tests for 2 years. Even when we found out he wasn’t a direct match, he was eligible for the swap program which would allow him to donate his kidney to someone else, who would then in turn have a person that matched me. March 2021, two matches were assembled, two phone calls were made, and 4 lives were forever changed. I received my second kidney transplant April 13, 2021.
This is the greatest gift I’ve ever received as now I have the strength and energy to live an almost normal life! I’m able to hike, travel and be active like never before. Now that I have the knowledge about kidney health that didn’t exist 25 years ago, I am excited to see how long this kidney will last. The first kidney transplant happened in 1998, the donor being my own mother. There was limited knowledge and treatments then on kidney disease so its not like my parents knew how to feed me or care for me for kidney disease then like we all do now. We didn’t know that dark sodas are awful for kidneys, or that red meat was harmful to kidney function (I used to eat a lot of cheeseburgers whenever we went out to eat). We didn’t go to our first kidney nutritionist until I was in early college. They told us when I received my first transplant that kidneys last about 13-15 years. Even eating the way I was eating, I made this kidney last 23 years before I needed a new one. I didn’t start eating a proper kidney diet until maybe 10 years ago, so I’d like to think switching right as we learned did the trick. Now with this second kidney and with my diet being on track, I’m praying for 30 years minimum.
Thank you to my brother from another mother, Michael Kelley, for donating your spare kidney to grant me this new chance at a happy life. I’ll continue to keep everyone updated on this page as to how this new kidney is doing.
Much love!
