“When I first realized something was wrong, I had started to put on a lot of weight and felt tired all the time. I was also having trouble breathing and getting nosebleeds ... it got to the point where I was nauseated, too, and couldn’t keep any food down. Then one morning in 2008, I passed out at work and ended up in the hospital.
“They did some tests and told me my kidneys weren’t working right, and I had emergency dialysis. Over two days, they took something like 60 pounds of toxins and fluid off my body. They told me I would have to stay on dialysis for a while, and if my kidney function didn’t resume normally, I would need a transplant. I ended up spending seven years on dialysis, and it seemed like I was always sick.
“It’s really cold in New York where I lived, and I was also looking for a place to live that was closer to my oldest son, who lived in Alabama. So I transferred my transplant waiting list points from Syracuse to Birmingham, and after about 11 months, UAB sent me a letter saying congratulations, I was going to be the recipient of a transplant.
"That was a complete surprise. I wasn’t expecting it — especially a living donor.
“I met my donor after the surgery, and she’s a wonderful person. We talked quite a bit right after the transplant. She had originally gotten tested to donate to her sister who needed a transplant, but they found a better match for her sister and found her kidney would be better for me. She wanted to go through with it and help somebody else, and I was just lucky enough to be the one. I was really amazed that she would do that for a stranger.
“I was in Alabama for roughly a year; but I missed my family and friends at home, so after the transplant I decided to come back. It took me a good long time to get back on my feet, but lately I’ve been feeling pretty good. I’m a single father, and I have a great son who’s 4. That’s one of the great things about being off of dialysis — I’m not stuck in a chair all day and having to leave my son with somebody else while I’m in treatment.
“Prior to all this, I had no knowledge of the UAB kidney chain or the extent of it. I feel really lucky to be a part of it.”