My Tolerance Story: Robert Waddell
It’s been 15 years since I underwent stem cell transplantation to eliminate the need for immunosuppressive drugs after my kidney transplant, and I feel great.
Before my kidney transplant, I did some research to learn about the stem cell study. My mother had polycystic kidney disease and two kidney transplants and basically died from the effects of the immunosuppressive drugs she had to take, and my dad had also done some research for her benefit.
When my time came for a kidney transplant, I asked about the trial and said I might be interested. To participate in that trial, you had to have a donor kidney. I was lucky I had someone who volunteered.
The first option was my niece. Her mother gave my mother a kidney, and she offered to donate her kidney to me. She was just about to get married, so I prayed about it and asked if she was sure she really wanted to do that. She did, but when she went to get tested, they told her someone had already volunteered. I talked to my wife, and we tried to figure out who could be ahead of her, since we hadn’t talked to anybody.
After three months, I was feeling better and starting to get my energy back. My hair was growing back, I was able to play with my kids. And I was able to start running again.
Robert Waddell
Well, two to three years before, we had told my neighbor when my kidneys were starting to degrade. We belong to the same church and knew each other as friends, and our daughters were also friends. At the time, he said, if you ever need a kidney, let me know and I will get tested. When he heard I needed a transplant, he went ahead and got tested without telling me.
Once he was approved to be my donor, I asked him if he would participate in the study, and he said he would. He had to take some medication to stimulate his stem cells, then drive to Chicago to get his stem cells extracted. They also extracted some of mine. It almost makes you feel like you have the flu. After that, he just had to have the donor surgery.
Six months before my transplant, I had to have a nephrectomy because there was not enough room in my body for the donated kidney. I went on dialysis for four to five months, and my kidney transplant was scheduled for May 7, 2009.
I had to go in a week before so I could be conditioned. I had radiation and chemo so my body would accept the stem cells. I had my transplant, then the next day I had the stem cell infusion. I was on immunosuppressive drugs for about a year, then they weaned me off them. They still check me every six months. I was patient number three in the Stage 2 clinical trial, and the first person who got off the meds.
A kidney transplant is a treatment for kidney failure, but if this treatment works, it’s like a real cure.
Robert Waddell
That first six months, I got almost everything you could get: thrush, shingles, I got the flu really bad, my hair fell out, I lost my appetite, and I lost a lot of weight. It was worse than I expected, but it was worth it.
After three months, I was feeling better and starting to get my energy back. My hair was growing back, I was able to play with my kids. And I was able to start running again. One time I had to run from one parking lot to another and it felt so good, I felt like I could run forever. I felt like superman.
Today, I feel great. I feel like everybody else. My creatinine levels are low to normal 15 years later. We’re kind of in unproven territory. A kidney transplant is a treatment for kidney failure, but if this treatment works, it’s like a real cure.