“Before I got my transplant through the UAB Kidney Chain, my quality of life was terrible. I was sick all the time. I couldn’t go anywhere. I couldn’t do anything.
“After my kidneys failed, I had to go on dialysis for 11 months, and that was terrible, too. I got home dialysis, and I had to be in by 8 o’clock every night to get the machine ready. The dialysis was set up to take eight and a half hours, and that was if everything went well and the machine worked right. But it usually took longer than that.
“We were always up at night rebooting the machine and getting things going again, so I never got a good dialysis treatment through it. I went through two machines that didn’t help me much before I finally got a third one that actually helped me a little bit. It was a miserable time.
“Now, thanks to my son-in-law, Josh Sammons, and my donor, Sandra Simmons, things have improved tremendously. I was able to go to my granddaughter’s baccalaureate service, and I later drove back to her graduation. We also took a trip to Tennessee and spent the week in Gatlinburg, and it was the first time my wife and I had been out of the house like that in almost two years. It has all been great.
“I get out of the house and go to my shop and work a little while. I also walk every evening. It is a much better life, that’s for sure.
“My son-in-law lives right up the road from me, and I see him almost every day. I’ve asked him a good bit if he’s had any problems, and he says he’s had none. He says he can’t even tell now that he did it. He’s completely comfortable with what he did, and that’s a good thing.
“Sandra is also doing well. We had a pleasant meeting, and we’ve talked since then. Her husband has also contacted my daughter several times, and we’ll all keep in touch.
“I also want to compliment the doctors and nurses at UAB Hospital, who went out of their way to be the best. Everything about my transplant went great. I just can’t explain how good it was.
“My son-in-law, Sandra, the doctors and nurses, they are all great people, and they gave me a second chance. It is amazing to even think about it.”