Today is the one year anniversary of receiving my new kidney at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.  For those of you in the area who see me regularly you know what a wonderful gift it is and how it's dramatically improved my life.  For those of you outside the St. Louis region or out of  country, I'm back doing whatever I want and have not felt this good in several years. I'm able to eat and drink what I want and I no longer have any physical restrictions. I will take anti-rejections meds for the rest of my life. But, my doctors have taken me off several meds I needed after the transplant. Tomorrow I will stop taking another.

You will never know how thankful I am for this miracle that arrived literally days before I would've started dialysis.  God's timing is perfect and the kidney he gave me is a champion. For that I am thankful. To God be all the Glory!

I'm also thankful to the nurses, doctors and health care professionals on my transplant team who have worked with me since May 11, 2024. And a shout out to my transplant coordinator Char, who I've probably driven crazy with a million questions and concerns.

Thank you to my family, especially my sisters Lynn and Cara and my brother John. You will never know how much what you did for me means to me.

Thank you to my friends, neighbors, coworkers and church family.  You were all there for me when I needed help.  As the saying goes, "A friend in need, is a friend indeed".  Thank you all for the love and compassion you've shown me in the past 365 days. I will never forget it.

I had a few minor setbacks during the past year including losing a battle with my yard waste container in October. I fell on my abdomen and put a few large gashes in my left leg in the accident. It ultimately required three interventional radiology procedures at Barnes on Kingshighway to drain fluid from the area around the new organ.  A week later I also managed to get bit by a dog.  When I called my coordinator to see how to handle it, she said there was no protocol for a transplant patient getting bit by a dog.  My guess is there is now!  My PCP handled it by removing torn skin, cleansing the wound, putting Neosporin on it and giving me a tetanus shot. In the big picture those incidents were just blips on the radar screen.

This is much longer than I intended.  But, if I may leave you with a thought, please consider becoming an organ donor if you've not already done so. You can help many lives by signing the back of your driver's license. It only takes a minute.  One very generous person, who signed the back of their driver's license, gave me a second chance at life

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I'm Continuing to Heal

I've had some minor problems in healing from my May kidney transplant.  It took almost the full seven weeks for the incision wound left in my abdomen, that had been a major issue the week after the surgery, to finally close to the point where it no longer bled every day.  For all but this past week, I packed the hole with gauze soaked in Iodine and then covered it with dry gauze to protect my clothes.

I had pain in the area of the incision that at some times got to four on a scale of ten.  When I reported it to my transplant coordinator she told me the Tacrolimus I take was responsible for the slow healing.  Tacrolimus is an immuno-suppressive drug that I take to keep my body from attacking my new kidney.  And Tacrolimus is one of five medications I take to prevent rejection of the kidney.  Three are immuno-suppressants and the other two are an anti-bacterial and an anti-virus.  The transplant team has prescribed a generic form of Pepcid to keep me from having an upset stomach or heartburn from all of these drugs.  Despite the Pepcid I get heartburn from time to time.

The transplant team has been helpful as has my transplant coordinator.  I was released on June 11th to drive again and to be around groups of people of less than ten.  It will be mid-August before I can be around large crowds again, which is just in time for the season opener of my beloved Missouri Tigers on August 29th.

How is my health otherwise you ask.  I have heart issues that put me into atrial flutter.  I had a procedure called cardioversion which worked for about a year, but now the problem has returned. I saw my cardiologist a few weeks ago and she is recommending a procedure called ablation which she believes would solve the A-Fib or Flutter problem.  But, that will be some time before I can have it. The transplanted kidney and my body must be strong enough to tolerate the procedure. I still don't have my strength back and sometimes feel weak, especially my upper body and core. I am trying to get it back by walking 35 to 45 minutes each day.

As I write this I wonder if anybody really cares, but since I told you about the new kidney and the transplant back in May, I want to keep you up to speed with my recovery. 

An Old Man Gets a New Kidney

Give the Gift of Life

I am 71 years old and received the greatest gift of my life a week ago Saturday. I became the recipient of a new kidney on May 11th.  I am overjoyed with my new life and give thanks to God for not only giving me a kidney but also a very strong one that has been functioning extremely well.  I posted the following article on social media two days after the fact.  Because it is so miraculous I ask that you please read the entire post.

"My family and many of my friends in the greater St. Louis area are aware of the story but for those elsewhere I received a phone call on Saturday morning that has changed my life forever.

If you don't know, I've been battling chronic kidney disease for the last 10 years. Over a year ago I was placed on the UNOS kidney transplant list and told to expect a three to five year wait unless a donor came forward. In the past year I had become fatigued, rundown and slept a lot. I was not in very good humor much of the time and was not having much fun.

Saturday morning at 2:45 a.m. I received a call from the kidney transplant team at Barnes-Jewish Hospital / The Doctors at Washington University, telling me they might have a kidney match for me but that I was the backup candidate. I was at the hospital a little after 3:30 a.m. and told I was still the backup, but the nursing staff immediately started testing me to make sure that I was in shape to receive the kidney and that the kidney was the great match they thought it was. And then I waited expecting to be sent home.

At 9:15 a.m. I was told I would receive the kidney and prepped for the procedure. It suddenly hit me, this is really going to happen. My mind was flooded with thoughts and emotions and by 9:50 a.m. I was on the operating table and a team of eight doctors, anesthetists and nurses were preparing for their work. Ten minutes later I was asleep.

I woke up a little after 2:00 p.m. in the recovery room and was told surgery was successful and the kidney had started producing before the team had even closed me up. I was sleepy and sore but very happy I had a new lease on life.

Since then I have met literally two dozen nurses, residents, therapists and aides who are looking out for me and taking care of me. To an individual they have all been kind and compassionate and caring people. I am grateful for what they are doing for me.

But, I am so much more thankful to God Almighty for giving me this wonderful gift. I have been so richly blessed more than I have ever deserved. I rejoice and give thanks to Him!

This is a great gift and I am thankful to the family of the individual who donated the kidney. I asked my doctors where the organ came from and was told that information is sealed for 6 months. At that time, I will attempt to reach out and let this family know how appreciative I am. While my family and I rejoice at this time, I know there is a family out there that is grieving a loss of its member. I don't know who they are but I pray for them.

I have a long way to go but with the supportof family and friends I know I have help and it encourages me to get better as quick as I can. I have been given a second chance at life. To paraphrase Lou Gehrig "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth!"

I was released from the hospital five days after I received the new organ. I will blog in a few days about the hospital stay, coming home and what is being done by the transplant team to support me and the kidney.