Brenda Roessler calls the past six months of her life far more than life changing.
"It's nothing less than a miracle."
In the spring of 2018, life circumstances were far more dire for the Cincinnati resident when she was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease.
"Up until my diagnosis in 2018, I worked two, full-time jobs," Roessler said. "I recruit for an insurance agency. On Dec. 20, 2019, I semi-retired and still continued to work evenings and weekends for the agency.
"When you have end-stage renal disease, you have to maintain kidney function in some fashion, either through a transplant or dialysis," she explained. "I started on dialysis at home for two years, knowing that was a very limited lifestyle. I couldn't travel outside of my transplant center radius. My activities were very restricted. In order to get my life back and live it to the fullest, a donor was my only option. A couple of dozen people stepped up and tried to donate but they didn't match."
She was placed on two waiting lists for a donor, one in Cincinnati and one in Indianapolis. She was cautioned it might take between three and seven years, optimally, to find a suitable match from one of those two sources.
To hasten the waiting process and possibly improve her odds of success, Roessler and her support system of friends and acquaintances made yard signs, car decals, T-shirts, caps, and other items to advertise and, hopefully, acquire a viable kidney match for her. "My circle is small, particularly the circle now that I'm semi-retired. We knew we had to reach out," Roessler said.
"Nothing happens by accident. This is where the miracle happened."
A life-altering rest stop
In July, Roessler's friend, Jeanette Jones of Hamilton, Ohio, stopped for a break at a rest area in Virginia just across the West Virginia state line. She was traveling with her daughter, a Charleston resident. CAMC kidney surgeon Santosh Nagaraju, M.D., was also at the rest area, pausing during a family trip to the beach in South Carolina.
Nagaraju's daughter, Aaria, 4, noticed Jones' T-shirt bearing a kidney symbol and description of Roessler's quest for a transplant. Aaria grabbed her father's hand and pulled him over to Jones to see it for himself. Nagaraju read the information about Roessler on the back of the T-shirt, introduced himself to Jones, and found out about her mission for her friend.
"At that point, I kind of introduced our [transplant] program and told her about our short wait times and that we'd be happy to evaluate anybody who was willing to come to us," Nagaraju said. "It was a pretty unique situation and a real coincidence to be in the same place at the same time.
"The thing that came to my mind was to tell her to increase your chances of getting a transplant, you should seek out multiple programs. You can be listed at several programs at any point. With Brenda, I told her friend it wouldn't hurt to have CAMC as a third option, since she'd been waiting for so long get listed already," Nagaraju added.
Jones texted Roessler with the news of her remarkable encounter with the surgeon.
"I called CAMC right away and got an appointment four weeks later," Roessler recounted.
Nagaraju and Roessler conducted an initial transplant evaluation through a telephone call in August. The evaluation determined she was qualified for a transplant at CAMC, meeting its criteria such as living within a five-hour radius of Charleston and being healthy enough to undergo the transplant procedure.
She traveled to CAMC for her clinical evaluation and was added to the Renal Transplant Center's wait list on Sept. 12.
Roessler received her new kidney at the CAMC Transplant Center on Nov. 26 -- two days after Thanksgiving and a week before her 58th birthday. "I was thinking it was going to be six to eight months [of waiting], and it was six to eight weeks, instead," she said.
The relief she's experienced has been immeasurable, she said.
"Nothing happens by accident. Thanks to a little 4-year-old who happened to spot a kidney on a T-shirt and knew what it was because her father is a kidney surgeon.
"You live with this kind of black cloud when you have this disease. The clock is always ticking. The important part is to stay healthy when you're battling this terrible disease that's trying to drag your body down. You have to keep yourself healthy to qualify for a transplant. You don't realize how heavy it is hanging over your head until it's gone, until you get the call and can think, 'It's my turn.'
"I can start making plans again. I can tell my aunt, 'I'll see you again in 2023.'"
Nagaraju performed Roessler's transplant, which, typically, takes approximately three hours, he said. "She did great from the surgery through recovery. She did well, so we're happy. Most patients continue dramatic quality-of-life changes afterward, and she's following the standard protocol kidney patients go through."
Roessler is recuperating at her sister's home in Indianapolis, which is easier for her to navigate since it has fewer stairs and steps than her Cincinnati residence, she explained.
She is regaining her strength gradually but noticeably. "I'm getting stronger and better every day. This morning I walked in and out of my lab [check-ups] on my own. I'm just a slow-moving vehicle that's getting back on the road, I guess," she said with a laugh.
Meeting the far-reaching transplant demand
According to CAMC literature, more than 90,000 people in the United States are waiting for life-saving organ transplants each year. Those with kidney failure can opt to go on dialysis, but their risk of complications and death increases the longer the time spent on dialysis.
"Nationwide, if people do their research, they'll be able to pinpoint programs which have short wait times and they'll be able to get transplants sooner," Nagaraju said.
"When patients are on dialysis," he said, "sometimes they feel like they literally have no hope when they have to wait five to 10 years for a donor. The risk of a heart attack or something like that goes up every year when you're on dialysis. If you can get off dialysis and get a kidney sooner, it's better for you."
Nagaraju has worked at the CAMC Renal Transplant Center for the past two years and discussed how the Charleston center maintains the shortest wait time in the nation for those needing kidney transplants. "One thing is, we evaluate every donor offer with a better judgment of what kind of donor it is and who will benefit from that rather than have a blanket rule. Some patients have been refused at some other centers; every program has its own set of requirements. We try to push the boundaries of these rules to help patients. Ultimately, it's about what is better for the patients."
He said West Virginia's smaller population enables the center to perform, on average, 80 kidney transplants a year to a wider geographic patient base. In 2020, CAMC recorded a record 100 transplants. More than 1,400 kidney transplants have been performed there since 1987. "Mainly, of course, it depends on how many people I have on the list at the time. West Virginia isn't a densely populated state. ... I've had people who've relocated here from other states, get a kidney transplant, live here in the state while they're in recovery, and then move back home. We've had patients from places like Connecticut, Boston, and Georgia. They have the transplant done here and make sure everything is fine before they go back to their home states.
"We are very fortunate that we have been able to transplant patients at this high transplant rate. That's really rewarding for us -- not just to help people in our neighborhood but to be able to extend our reach to the whole country," Nagaraju said.
"People just need to know about it and need to be able tyo travel there and do what they've got to do," Roessler said.
The CAMC Renal Transplant Center is located at 415 Morris St., Suite 100, in Charleston. More information about the center and its services is available by calling 304-388-7823 or visiting www.camc.org/camc-renal-transplant-center.
Information about becoming an organ donor is available at the Center for Organ Recovery Education website, core.org.
"It's nothing less than a miracle."
In the spring of 2018, life circumstances were far more dire for the Cincinnati resident when she was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease.
"Up until my diagnosis in 2018, I worked two, full-time jobs," Roessler said. "I recruit for an insurance agency. On Dec. 20, 2019, I semi-retired and still continued to work evenings and weekends for the agency.
"When you have end-stage renal disease, you have to maintain kidney function in some fashion, either through a transplant or dialysis," she explained. "I started on dialysis at home for two years, knowing that was a very limited lifestyle. I couldn't travel outside of my transplant center radius. My activities were very restricted. In order to get my life back and live it to the fullest, a donor was my only option. A couple of dozen people stepped up and tried to donate but they didn't match."
She was placed on two waiting lists for a donor, one in Cincinnati and one in Indianapolis. She was cautioned it might take between three and seven years, optimally, to find a suitable match from one of those two sources.
To hasten the waiting process and possibly improve her odds of success, Roessler and her support system of friends and acquaintances made yard signs, car decals, T-shirts, caps, and other items to advertise and, hopefully, acquire a viable kidney match for her. "My circle is small, particularly the circle now that I'm semi-retired. We knew we had to reach out," Roessler said.
"Nothing happens by accident. This is where the miracle happened."
A life-altering rest stop
In July, Roessler's friend, Jeanette Jones of Hamilton, Ohio, stopped for a break at a rest area in Virginia just across the West Virginia state line. She was traveling with her daughter, a Charleston resident. CAMC kidney surgeon Santosh Nagaraju, M.D., was also at the rest area, pausing during a family trip to the beach in South Carolina.
Nagaraju's daughter, Aaria, 4, noticed Jones' T-shirt bearing a kidney symbol and description of Roessler's quest for a transplant. Aaria grabbed her father's hand and pulled him over to Jones to see it for himself. Nagaraju read the information about Roessler on the back of the T-shirt, introduced himself to Jones, and found out about her mission for her friend.
"At that point, I kind of introduced our [transplant] program and told her about our short wait times and that we'd be happy to evaluate anybody who was willing to come to us," Nagaraju said. "It was a pretty unique situation and a real coincidence to be in the same place at the same time.
"The thing that came to my mind was to tell her to increase your chances of getting a transplant, you should seek out multiple programs. You can be listed at several programs at any point. With Brenda, I told her friend it wouldn't hurt to have CAMC as a third option, since she'd been waiting for so long get listed already," Nagaraju added.
Jones texted Roessler with the news of her remarkable encounter with the surgeon.
"I called CAMC right away and got an appointment four weeks later," Roessler recounted.
Nagaraju and Roessler conducted an initial transplant evaluation through a telephone call in August. The evaluation determined she was qualified for a transplant at CAMC, meeting its criteria such as living within a five-hour radius of Charleston and being healthy enough to undergo the transplant procedure.
She traveled to CAMC for her clinical evaluation and was added to the Renal Transplant Center's wait list on Sept. 12.
Roessler received her new kidney at the CAMC Transplant Center on Nov. 26 -- two days after Thanksgiving and a week before her 58th birthday. "I was thinking it was going to be six to eight months [of waiting], and it was six to eight weeks, instead," she said.
The relief she's experienced has been immeasurable, she said.
"Nothing happens by accident. Thanks to a little 4-year-old who happened to spot a kidney on a T-shirt and knew what it was because her father is a kidney surgeon.
"You live with this kind of black cloud when you have this disease. The clock is always ticking. The important part is to stay healthy when you're battling this terrible disease that's trying to drag your body down. You have to keep yourself healthy to qualify for a transplant. You don't realize how heavy it is hanging over your head until it's gone, until you get the call and can think, 'It's my turn.'
"I can start making plans again. I can tell my aunt, 'I'll see you again in 2023.'"
Nagaraju performed Roessler's transplant, which, typically, takes approximately three hours, he said. "She did great from the surgery through recovery. She did well, so we're happy. Most patients continue dramatic quality-of-life changes afterward, and she's following the standard protocol kidney patients go through."
Roessler is recuperating at her sister's home in Indianapolis, which is easier for her to navigate since it has fewer stairs and steps than her Cincinnati residence, she explained.
She is regaining her strength gradually but noticeably. "I'm getting stronger and better every day. This morning I walked in and out of my lab [check-ups] on my own. I'm just a slow-moving vehicle that's getting back on the road, I guess," she said with a laugh.
Meeting the far-reaching transplant demand
According to CAMC literature, more than 90,000 people in the United States are waiting for life-saving organ transplants each year. Those with kidney failure can opt to go on dialysis, but their risk of complications and death increases the longer the time spent on dialysis.
"Nationwide, if people do their research, they'll be able to pinpoint programs which have short wait times and they'll be able to get transplants sooner," Nagaraju said.
"When patients are on dialysis," he said, "sometimes they feel like they literally have no hope when they have to wait five to 10 years for a donor. The risk of a heart attack or something like that goes up every year when you're on dialysis. If you can get off dialysis and get a kidney sooner, it's better for you."
Nagaraju has worked at the CAMC Renal Transplant Center for the past two years and discussed how the Charleston center maintains the shortest wait time in the nation for those needing kidney transplants. "One thing is, we evaluate every donor offer with a better judgment of what kind of donor it is and who will benefit from that rather than have a blanket rule. Some patients have been refused at some other centers; every program has its own set of requirements. We try to push the boundaries of these rules to help patients. Ultimately, it's about what is better for the patients."
He said West Virginia's smaller population enables the center to perform, on average, 80 kidney transplants a year to a wider geographic patient base. In 2020, CAMC recorded a record 100 transplants. More than 1,400 kidney transplants have been performed there since 1987. "Mainly, of course, it depends on how many people I have on the list at the time. West Virginia isn't a densely populated state. ... I've had people who've relocated here from other states, get a kidney transplant, live here in the state while they're in recovery, and then move back home. We've had patients from places like Connecticut, Boston, and Georgia. They have the transplant done here and make sure everything is fine before they go back to their home states.
"We are very fortunate that we have been able to transplant patients at this high transplant rate. That's really rewarding for us -- not just to help people in our neighborhood but to be able to extend our reach to the whole country," Nagaraju said.
"People just need to know about it and need to be able tyo travel there and do what they've got to do," Roessler said.
The CAMC Renal Transplant Center is located at 415 Morris St., Suite 100, in Charleston. More information about the center and its services is available by calling 304-388-7823 or visiting www.camc.org/camc-renal-transplant-center.
Information about becoming an organ donor is available at the Center for Organ Recovery Education website, core.org.
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