“I’ve been with State Farm Insurance for 45 years. I haven’t been able to work as much as I would have liked to prior to my transplant. But now that I have been transplanted, in another three or four weeks I’m going to be ready to boogie and go.
“I have a nine-person office staff. I have two sons and a granddaughter who all work at State Farm. They don’t know it yet, but the old man here is going to be able to run for a while now! I am ready to get back in my office and start helping people again. It’s what I enjoy. I’ve done it my whole life.
“I think everybody in the office is ready for me to come back. We have a lot of fun. And I’ve got so many people I have insured who have reached out to me and sent good wishes. They want me back, and I want them. I want to see them again.
“Melissa White, who actually works in my office, gave a kidney on my behalf so I could get one. She just has an incredible heart. She’s an incredible person that she would give such a gift. Her being willing to do that is what enabled me to get transplanted much quicker than I otherwise would have been.
“My wife, Carolyn, says since I now have a woman’s kidney that I’m going to be able to multitask. I guess we will see!
“I had Goodpasture syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue. I was on dialysis for three years. I worked Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and when I would get home, I was just exhausted. You just can’t believe what it takes out of you, both the Goodpasture and dialysis.
“I would do dialysis three days a week at a clinic. I tried to do peritoneal dialysis at home for three or four months, but I had a hernia and all the fluid that goes around the peritoneal cavity just came through. It just didn’t work, and it was painful.
“I received my kidney from Joy Dean, and she is just amazing. She and her husband, they are just the sweetest people I’ve ever met in my life. When I met her for the first time, I cried. It was overwhelming. To come from Virginia and leave her 16-year-old triplets for even just a little while to come to Birmingham to do this for her brother-in-law Jerry Phillips and ultimately help me? It’s a blessing.
“I feel so good now. It’s amazing. I’m pretty sure I’m going to up my bench press from 20 pounds to 90 pounds in no time! We’re so fortunate to have UAB here in Alabama and have this kind of an opportunity. So many people have been so charitable to come forward and donate a kidney and give me and others a chance to live longer. It’s amazing so many would be so willing to give. I am forever thankful.”