After waiting 25 months on the kidney transplant recipient list and experiencing numerous medical problems, Steamboat Springs resident Steven Geer was asked to come to Denver immediately one evening in March at 11:30 p.m. I received a formal phone call.
During the night drive to the University of Colorado Health University Hospital, Gere and his partner learn that the surgery and recovery process for his kidney failure condition will be nerve-wracking, but potentially life-saving. Emotions were running high because of the situation. By 8 a.m., the operation was underway and Gere received a new kidney from a deceased donor. The donated kidney was the third in his body and was transplanted near his left hip, requiring him to take anti-rejection medication.
The transplant team believed the kidney was healthy and a perfect fit for Geer, 50, a Walden native who has lived in Steamboat since 2008. For several years, Gere underwent 12-hour peritoneal dialysis from home with a tube placed in her abdomen to remove waste products. Products made from his blood.
Gere, who works in the IT department at Big Agnes in Steamboat, began feeling ill in May 2021 with symptoms including anemia and respiratory illness. In late December 2021, he suddenly suffered a kidney attack and was forced to participate in the Flight for Life medical transport. He was hospitalized for 15 days and diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Goodpasture syndrome. Goodpasture syndrome is a rare disease in which the body mistakenly produces antibodies that attack the lungs and kidneys.
After the spring transplant, Geer and her life partner, Tyler Kahn, a Steamboat Springs traffic manager, left the hospital hopeful and temporarily lived in Aurora near follow-up care.
Unfortunately, deceased donor kidneys were considered “sleeping kidneys” because they never woke up and functioned properly.
“December donations usually work well,” says Kimberly Jackson, kidney and pancreas transplant coordinator at the University of Colorado Hospital. “Stephen's (transplant) failed quickly because the graft functioned slowly and resulted in a 'sleepy kidney.'
Geer suggested that the donated kidney may not have been as healthy and well-circulated as initially thought, or that some medical complications related to the major organ transplant surgery may have been a contributing factor. I'm thinking.
Now, Gere has to wake up at 5:30 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to drive to Avon for more aggressive hemodialysis at the nearest dialysis center, Kidney Center of the Rockies. It doesn't have to be. Gere will drive herself to the three-and-a-half-hour treatment, which will be administered through a port in her right shoulder. IT professionals work remotely and wait until their blood pressure stabilizes before driving home.
“Big Agnes has been extremely supportive and flexible with my situation. I can't say enough about that,” Geer said.
According to the Mayo Clinic, hemodialysis uses a machine to filter waste, salts and fluids from a patient's blood when the kidneys are no longer functioning properly.
Kidney transplantation is considered an elective surgery, but “the longer a patient is on hemodialysis, the weaker they tend to be,” Jackson said. “For better results, patients must be strong and healthy before transplantation.”
The best outcome for Geer and many other patients with kidney failure will be a living donor kidney transplant.
“It would definitely be better to have a living donor,” Jackson said. “It's a more controlled environment, so the loss of blood circulation after death has less of an impact on the kidneys.”
Currently, Mr. Gere has a favorable post-transplant survival rating based on his age, diabetes status, dialysis status, and previous transplants, which may help him match a younger kidney. Yes, Jackson said.
Gere said she's younger and healthier than many people receiving dialysis at Avon's regional center, but she calls the feeling after dialysis a “dialysis hangover.”
Dozens of family members and friends have been tested for matches to Gere's living donor, but so far no satisfactory match has been found. Gere has been on the kidney donor waiting list again since July.
“Living donors provide the best outcomes for people in need,” Khan said. “We are doing everything we can to help find living donors (of type O blood) and to spread the word that so many people need help.”
The family has set up a Go Fund Me page to help Gear with travel and temporary living expenses when the first transplant fails, and in hopes that a second transplant option becomes available soon .
“If you've ever felt like you could have a better life and save someone else's life, get tested,” Geer said.
