Thomas Thompson - 34
"I actually thought I was being lied to when I first got the call saying doctors here had found a kidney for me. Less than two months ago, they called me when I was on the dialysis machine. They said, ‘We think we have something for you here.’"
“My wife and I were working at Florida Baptist Children’s Home as house parents back in the late 1990s. I came to my wife one day with a washcloth and it had blood clots in it; they were coming out of my nose. My wife rushed me to the ER and my blood pressure was 210/190. The nurse asked if I had ever had kidney problems. It was then that my wife and I both realized that the kidney reconstruction I had as a child wasn’t working any longer.
“I actually had 40-50 surgeries from the time I was an infant until I got married. I did peritoneal dialysis as an infant. I had a bilateral ureterostomy as a baby.
“There are multiple procedures and surgeries I had that were all kidney-related. I ultimately became a ward of the state because of the poor health care my mom had given me. I was then adopted by my aunt and uncle and raised by them. They walked me through all those years of surgeries and were always there for me.
“My adopted father is a pastor, and my wife and I have been raised in the church.
“In 1999, I went on dialysis for the first time. Doctors tried another reconstructive surgery around that time, and it failed.
“At that point I went on hemodialysis. I’ve had 20 different access surgeries to try and dialyze in different places. Every one of them kept on shutting down or shutting off. I ultimately had to go on a hero graft. It’s an artificial graft that uses the natural vein in the artery. It’s a better, larger graft. I’ve also done peritoneal dialysis as an adult.
“My condition isn’t PKD, it’s something known as an adhesion. It’s scar tissue. Anytime you go into the body and have surgery, when it heals, it starts to grow adhesions or webbing. That’s what shut off my peritoneal dialysis, and I wasn’t able to do it.
“Prior to now, I’ve never had a transplant. We’ve come close one other time. We were within 24 hours of having a live-donor transplant and it fell through. I had a blood transfusion prior to the transplant before a dialysis treatment, and it changed all of my numbers, and the transplant wasn’t able to happen. I made it all the way to the admitting room, but that was as close as I got.
“Two years ago we came to Birmingham for the initial screening, and we’ve been listed here at UAB since. I actually thought I was being lied to when I first got the call saying doctors here had found a kidney for me. Less than two months ago, they called me when I was on the dialysis machine. They said, ‘We think we have something for you here.’ I thought it was a mistake. I called back twice and they finally said, ‘No, Mr. Thompson. You can quit calling. Everything is OK. We are sure this is for you.’
“My wife and I were told we would never have children because I was on dialysis. We had to wait 12-and-a-half years, but our daughter was born. Twelve months later, we found out we were pregnant again, this time with a boy.
“That’s one of the reasons why this opportunity to have a transplant is so special. I’ve never been a healthy dad. I’ve never been a healthy husband. This will be my first time to be a healthy dad and a healthy husband. You don’t know what that means. It’s hard to describe what that means. I just know I’m looking forward to it, and I can’t wait.
“It’s amazing the little things you think of that will be different now. We’ve been married 21 years in May. We were married for just five years when my kidneys failed.
“I went in ministry full time in 1999, so this will also be the first time I’ve been a fulltime preacher while healthy. I’ve always had to do it by going to the clinic three times a week for 12 hours a week, or dialyzing at night. I’ve never been healthy while serving.
“We’re thankful for dialysis and the opportunity it has given me, but dialysis is a treatment. It’s no way of life. We praise God that we’ve had that avenue that’s enabled me to sustain this long. But I’m excited that this has happened. I’m excited it’s going to be different. It’s answered prayers.
“We’ve dreamed a great deal about what kind of person this is who is donating, who is helping me and giving me a chance. You can’t fathom someone wanting to give a piece of himself or herself away to another person. But it is a beautiful, beautiful gift.
“We were getting ready to go to the clinic two years ago and eating at Waffle House. Sitting at the table in front of me was Loucheiz Purifoy’s mother. She went to the same dialysis clinic I do. I was wearing Florida Gators gear head to toe, and she came up to me and said, ‘I’m glad to see a true, genuine Florida Gators fan.’ She said, ‘I want you to know my boy plays hard for the Gators.’ We started talking, and that’s when I found out she went to the same dialysis clinic that I did. It’s amazing that she is part of this chain, too.
“I have messages from my church back home, and they have been praying for a spirit-filled kidney for a spirit-filled person. That’s what they’ve been praying for, and they know how to get through.
“I think this chain goes to show that we never know the power of the one life we have, how many people you can touch. It’s amazing to know that all of these transplants come from one person who was willing to give of herself. That’s just a powerful thought. To know that in your one life, you can touch so many.”