Keesy is getting a kidney!

Last September, Niwot’s Bob Keesy (65) got serious about getting himself a kidney. He’d been on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) waitlist since 2013. But, as his kidney function got much worse, the prospect of continuing to wait beyond what he had originally anticipated was not acceptable to him.

Besides attaching a large banner to his fence facing 79th Street saying “Bob Needs a Kidney,” he, his family and some friends began wearing t-shirts and hats, and placed signs on their cars with the same message. In February Bob set up a website (www.kidneymiracle.com) to explain his story and to provide awareness and education around being a living donor.

Wearing a “kidney needed” T-shirt paid off when Marc Kammerzell asked Keesy about it one day at church. Kammerzell explains on Keesy’s blog that he was feeling helpless in the face of several health crises affecting his family. Learning about Keesy’s situation presented Kammerzell with an empowering opportunity to save a life.

Kammerzell went through extensive donor testing at UCHealth in Denver and, although he wasn’t a blood type match for Keesy, he was cleared to be a living donor.

Simultaneously, someone neither Keesy nor Kammerzell knew was stepping up to be a kidney donor. Frankie Dubar-Nelson learned through an email from her son’s school about a young lady in Broomfield who was in need of a kidney transplant. Dubar-Nelson’s family had been on the receiving end of great support after it was discovered her son had cancer. That experience compelled her to “pay it forward” in many ways. Exploring if she was a good match for the young lady she’d read about just felt right to her.

Dubar-Nelson also went through donor testing at UCHealth and she was approved.

And this is when the story becomes even more amazing, Keesy said. Neither Keesy nor Kammerzell knew Dubar-Nelson, but Keesy had heard through the grapevine about a woman who was going to donate a kidney. They met through mutual friends and were shocked to learn that they were going to undergo their transplant surgeries on the same day in the same hospital and then they realized all three of them are members of the same church.

Keesy, Kammerzell, and Dubar-Nelson have put the pieces together. They believe that behind the scenes, UCHealth looked at the two approved donors and the two who were in need of kidneys and made the determination that Kammerzell was a better match for the young woman and Dubar-Nelson was a match for Keesy.

Dubar-Nelson and Kammerzell were each surprised but willing to participate in a paired donation when UCHealth presented the idea to them. For confidentiality reasons, UCHealth hasn’t disclosed anyone’s names to the others, but it seems a reasonable conclusion that the four of them are participating in the paired donation.

Keesy said his energy level has been “horrible,” but he’s feeling confident and upbeat about getting his new kidney on Friday, June 22. He knows that if he hadn’t advocated for himself, he’d still be waiting to rise to the top of the waitlist.

“The purpose of my website is to be a call to action. It was a call to action to help me find a kidney and it’s intended to be a continual message for other people to know what to do if they need a kidney or if they want to be a living donor,” Keesy said.

Jim Eastman and Scott La Point - one year after transplant surgery

Kidney recipient Jim Eastman, a Niwot resident, has been living with his new kidney for nearly a year. His donor, Scott La Point has been living with one kidney and both men are feeling strong and healthy.

Spreading the word about being a living donor and encouraging drivers to register to be donors are two causes they fully support through their advocacy. They also mentor others through the donor-transplant process.

Because the majority of people with kidney disease don’t initially realize they have it, Eastman encourages everyone to ask their doctor for a kidney screening. The earlier kidney decline is discovered, the more that can be done through lifestyle changes to avert further deterioration.

Eastman reports his energy level is good now and he’s been spending a lot of time cycling.

La Point has amped up his cycling and earlier this month completed the Elephant Rock 100-mile ride where his team raised more than $4,000 for the American Transplant Foundation.

The two will head to Salt Lake City in August to participate in cycling competitions at the Transplant Games, a festival where living donors and organ recipients can compete in 20 different events.

An update on Jackie Zampella since her altruistic kidney donation

It’s been seven months since Gunbarrel resident Jackie Zampella gave a kidney to someone she’s never met. Feeling great, her doctors tell her she’s just as healthy as she was before the surgery. She’s back to working out six days a week and coaching soccer and she plans to hike Longs Peak next month.

Zampella went to Chicago in April to be part of the world record number of living donors gathered in one place.

“It was such a surreal experience. There were nearly a 1,000 people there - donors and recipients, and to know everyone is doing fine was so uplifting,” Zampella said.

Although she doesn’t know the 21-year-old man who received her kidney and may never meet him, she does know he’s doing well since the transplant and that’s what is important to her.

She continues to educate others about being a living donor and and the importance of signing up to be an organ donor on driver’s licenses.