By Traci Godwin
Baltimore, Maryland native Rebecca Docherty said she's a city girl and she doesn't give up.
The Grace House member proved it when, after waiting over 10 years, she received a new kidney on September 3.
Through all the years of pain and sickness, Rebecca always believed her new kidney was coming to her - whether through divine healing or through transplant. However, the waiting was hard.
“The devil tries to steal my joy, but I'm not going to let him,” Rebecca said. “I'm a city girl. I don't give up!”
In 2007, Rebecca was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy. IgA nephropathy is a disease in which antibodies build up in the kidneys. Six years later, on March 3, 2013 doctors told her she was in kidney failure. That day, she was given a port and started home dialysis. She did home dialysis every day for two years before she started hemodialysis at a dialysis center. She has been doing hemodialysis since 2016.
“I did that 3 days a week,” she explained. “Treatments took three hours, but combined with prepping, I was there about four hours.”
Rebecca said there were days that after dialysis, that all she could do is lie down for the rest of the day. Some days were better. With a few hours of rest, she could go about her day.
There were other complications with dialysis, too. Several times, Rebecca’s blood pressure dropped during dialysis and an ambulance was called and she was taken to the hospital.
In the midst of going through the dialysis, Rebecca was also diagnosed with heart disease, which runs in the female line of her family. In 2017, she had double bypass surgery.
“Recovery for that took about 12 weeks,” Rebecca explained. “I did recover well from that and I do still have regular checkups with my cardiologist.”
Through all of her cardiac problems and dialysis, Rebecca maintained her faith that she'd get a new kidney. It just took a while to find the right place to get on a transplant list.
She was on the transplant list while still living in Maryland, and got a couple of calls there, but no match was ever found. When she moved to Alabama, she found out that only one hospital in the state performs kidney transplants - the University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital, so getting a kidney in Alabama can take up to 12 years.
In 2022, Rebecca turned to a Nashville, Tennessee hospital for help.
She was put on the kidney transplant list at Centennial Hospital. Her case was paused for a few months while she went thru a weight loss plan, then her case was reactivated and she was transferred to the St. Thomas Hospital transplant list. Everything was looking up and she was hopeful with the new hospital. She began a round of doctors appointments and tests.
While she waited, Rebecca received confirmation and encouraging words from Grace House friends.
“Somebody at church came up to me and told me she was hesitant to say what she felt like she was supposed to say, but she said ‘This year, you will get your kidney.’ She was right!”
Rebecca revealed. “Then another lady at church told me ‘Your kidney is coming sooner than you think!’ I just kept my hope up.”
She got two calls for kidneys from the Nashville hospital. The first was not a match and she found out before she left for the hospital.
Then on Saturday, September 2, she got the call while she was at dialysis that would change her life. A kidney had been found. She was told to head to Nashville. She knew, however, that tests were still going to have to be made on the kidney to ensure it was a match.
“That night I went to the hospital. I walked into the ER and told them I was there for a kidney transplant,” Rebecca recalled. “While I was waiting for someone to bring a wheelchair to take me to my room, a man walked in with a box. He said he had a kidney that was going for transplant.”
One of her three daughters pointed at Rebecca and said “It's going right in her!”
Rebecca asked the nurse if she was the only kidney transplant on the list that night. The nurse confirmed she was.
Testing continued on the kidney for the next several hours. Rebecca said that until the next morning, as she was actually wheeled into the operating room, she hadn't really come to terms that it was actually going to happen.
“I didn't get much sleep that night,” she said. “I was praying my body would accept the new kidney. It all happened so fast, I didn't have time to process it all. it didn't seem real.”
When she woke up after surgery, Rebecca exclaimed, “Hey, this DID happen!”
One of the nurses asked her before the surgery “Are you ready for your new life to start?”
But she had an ache in her heart for the kidney donor who had passed away. “I started crying when all that hit me.” Rebecca said.
Three weeks after the surgery, the kidney started working and is completely functioning now.
After Rebecca’s initial release from the hospital five days after the transplant, she had to return for checkups in Nashville twice a week, then it was reduced to once a week. Now she goes once every two weeks. Soon, medical visits will be reduced to once a month.
There were setbacks after coming home, however. Rebecca’s incision got infected and she was readmitted back into St. Thomas Hospital for eight days. She was treated with antibiotics and a wound vac was put in place. She has finished her course of antibiotics, but is still receiving wound care at home.
Rebecca will be on anti-rejection medicine the rest of her life, even though the kidney is functioning 100% now. It ensures her body won't reject the kidney. At present, she has some reaction to the medicine, but the symptoms will lessen in time as her body adjusts. Doctors monitor the dosing thru blood work and adjust accordingly.
“I'm still in the healing process, but God is carrying me through,” Rebecca said “I’m not going to sit around feeling bad about it. I stand on the Word of God, but some days are harder than others.”
Sometimes, she asks why she's had to endure so much. Some days are frustrating and she wants it to be done with it all and carry on with her life in a normal fashion.
“But then I realize I'm going to get to see my (eight) grandchildren grow up.” Rebecca said.
As she recovers at home, Rebecca has become part of an online group of people waiting for kidney transplant. She encourages them all and tells them God is faithful and she's living proof of that.
“Some don’t want to listen, but I say it anyway,” Rebecca smiled.