Angie- Partner of a Kidney Recipient

My Aaron is 52 years old, but he was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease when he was 30; He later found out that the disease was hereditary in the males in his family. He was told by his doctors that he would eventually need a kidney transplant.

In 2013 he was placed on the transplant list when his kidney function started going down in the percental. He had to start on dialysis in January of 2016 which changed our life more then you could imagine. He would work 12-hour shift but must go to dialysis right after work 3 times a week from 7 to 2.

I remember this like it was just yesterday, we were on our way to the Outlet Mall in Shelby County on July 31, 2017, to get him a birthday present. While I was driving, he received a call from the transplant center saying that they have found a kidney for him, it was 5:30 pm. They asked us if there was any way we could get there by 7:00 pm. We turned around went to his house to get his bag that he has had pack since starting his dialysis and got down to Jewish hospital at 6:45.

Sitting in the waiting area felt like years. He received his second chance at life on August 1^st; his birthday is August 2nd. I always joke with him saying how can I beat that present, knowing that it isn’t possible. The moral of this story is: it took one person to say yes to becoming an organ donor to save the love of my life!