56 | www.Ups tatePhys i c i ansSC . com | www.Hea l thL i nksUps tate. com A Unique Case: HAPPY "KIDNEYVERSARY!" By Lisa Moody Breslin Every year, on Oct. 30, Tom and Susan Chester privately celebrate” Kidneyversary,” the day three years ago that Susan gave her husband one of her kidneys so he could say goodbye to dialysis and enjoy a life with a kidney that wasn’t deteriorating day by day. For 15 years, Tom knew he had polycystic kidney disease, a condition where clusters of cysts develop within the kidneys and cause them to enlarge and lose function over time. He had lived through the pain and discomfort associated with the diving health of his kidneys as they went from 80% functioning to a mere 12%. “A healthy kidney should be about the size of your fist,” Susan explained. “When doctors took out one of Tom’s to make room for the donated kidney, it was the size of an NFL football.” Before Susan, 52, and Tom, 53, agreed to share their story, they confirmed that without tribute to God, there was no story to tell. “This incredible story should not be about us. This is a story about God, the power He has and our belief that He was powerful enough to take the lead and remain with us at all times,”Susan explained. From the time Tom was diagnosed and from Kidneyversary to Kidneyversary, the couple can trace specific moments when God assured them that they were not alone. “The assurances started back when I was diagnosed,” Tom said. “I had hypertension and the doctor said we could look for three things to get rid of it. He was thorough. I had a lot of tests done and they scanned my arteries.” Before he was officially diagnosed, Tom remembers talking to a friend at church who had bone cancer. Tom was impressed by the friend’s outlook, which was to ask, “How can I serve the Lord through this?” When test results confirmed that Tom had PKD, his immediate response was a smile and the question, “How can I serve the Lord through this?” “People come into your life for a season and a reason,” Tom said. “I knew the reason the church member said that. It was definitely the first of many God moments.” As the couple traveled for tests and to see specialists, “My God, My Savior” by Aaron Shust kept popping up on the radio. Susan, a retired school teacher, was talking to a young colleague – “one of the strongest Christian woman I know” – who told her about Mark Batterson’s book, “The Circle Maker.” “I read it and it changed my prayer life forever. ‘This was my reason,’ I thought. I did a Bible study on it and soon members circled us in prayer throughout the long and arduous journey,” she said. Susan “had every test possible” done to see if she could be a match and donate her kidney. A strong believer, her mother, told her, “The likelihood of you being a match is so rare. Please don’t get your hopes up.” “But I told her I strongly disagreed,” Susan said. “I knew I would be. God gave me the peace of knowing that and I was.” Indeed, Susan had four of the six markers that confirmed she was a match. Prior to the transplant, which was performed at Charlotte Medical Center, Tom needed every vaccine offered. He was at the health department getting several vaccines on the day Susan learned she was a match. And there, in the waiting room, God’s assurance shined through, he said.
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