My sister gave me the greatest gift of all, the gift of life. She gave me her kidney.
But MedStar Georgetown gave me a second gift, an incredible gift, and I'm so grateful.
I'm Shannon Walker, and I'm the older sister. I'm Courtney Howard.
My sister is six years older than me, and when i was born, she was so excited
to have a younger sister. And she's just always protected and taken care of me.
My sister and I were kids when we found out that my mother had polycystic kidney disease,
and that's when innumerable cysts grow in the kidneys and actually crowd out the healthy tissue.
So normally, the kidney is the size of a fist, and my mothers were the size of footballs.
When Courtney was 13 and I was 19, my mom had her transplant. My uncle
who was a perfect match, as well, was able to donate a kidney to my mom. It's a 50/50 shot that one of
us would have polycystic kidney disease, so we made a pact that if either one of us needed a
kidney the other one would provide it. She didn't end up having polycystic kidney disease, and I did.
So when I was 40, I started to get severe pain, and my kidney function was dropping
pretty rapidly. The next step would be to find a donor, and we both got tested. The nurse called me
to tell me that we were a perfect match. I called her because I just couldn't believe it. I'm
on the road, and I probably should have pulled over because literally, I mean, I couldn't see because
we were both crying so hard. I felt like that was the answer to my prayers and that that was going
to allow me to have a healthy life. And then Dr. Cooper reached out to Courtney.
Courtney was a perfect match. We call it a zero mismatch with her sister, and we are currently
participating in clinical trial work potentially advancing the science of transplant to avoidance
of immunosuppression. And we asked would you like to participate in this trial? The possibility
that I might be off immunosuppressants in a year was just music to my ears.
So we were really ready and excited about the day of surgery.
And it was just such a feeling of relief. My kidneys were so large that they were going
up into my rib cage, and I always felt like I was short of breath. And just to have that
feeling that I can breathe and that the pain was gone was just amazing. In order for this protocol
to move forward, first, Shannon had to donate her bone marrow about two months before the
kidney transplant. After the transplant, that bone marrow, that DNA, was eventually transplanted into
Courtney. And, it allowed for her kidney to be better accepted by her own immune system.
So I produce two sets of DNA, my DNA and 15 percent of hers. And so far, it's been successful.
And going off immunosuppressants is really exciting for me, especially because
I am a nurse practitioner, and I work with sick patients. So the future looks really
bright. The sisters were that perfect match. But now we're on that cutting edge of research where
right now to actually participate in this program, they don't have to be that match.
So we're now trying to get more and more living donors, regardless of how closely matched they are.
And so, we really want to get the story out that, you know people, who are interested in this
regardless of, you know, how closely related or what their match is that they could do this too.
Hold on. She's coming. Hi, Dr. Verbesey. Yayy. Hi, guys. Well you look terrific. You look great.
We feel great, and we owe it all to you guys. We really appreciate everything you did for us.
You guys thank us. People thank us, and I always say we should thank you. You trusted us, and we're
really thankful when folks agree to participate because that's the only way that we can move
transplant science forward. The whole process of living donation is really a team project, and
you know, we're just lucky that the the main people in the in the team are incredible people.
And we're so grateful. But I'm feeling great, like no pain at all. I have a lot more energy. I'm just
feeling wonderful. Their family was touched by transplant many years prior. Their mother had
received a transplant, and they speak of the challenges that she had with immunosuppression.
Now Courtney's at least six months from her transplant she's now down to taking a single
immunosuppressive medication. She's had no problems with rejection. She's enjoying being a recipient.
And our plan is is that at one year at her transplant date, we'll be able
to remove that final immunosuppressive as well. I mean it is really remarkable.
I feel so much better than I did before the transplant.
And I'm basically going to have a normal immune system, all because Shannon so unselfishly gave
a bone marrow transplant and then a kidney so that I could be in the study and
have a normal life. It's just I mean I can't put into words how grateful I am. It was worth it.