The Gift of New Life (2023)

On a sunny May morning in 2023, then 41-year-old Chasity Wilson drove with her teenage daughter to have breakfast at a local restaurant. As they approached, Wilson gathered strength to break the earth-shattering news that would come next.

“This is going to be difficult to hear, but I need to tell you something,” she explained. “I’ve decided I’ll no longer be undergoing dialysis.”

Kidney dialysis, a treatment that removes waste and fluids from the body when kidneys can’t, had been Wilson’s lifeline since her disease took over.

Without it, she’d have just weeks to live.

The car ride was emotional, recalls Wilson. But after nearly two years of exhaustion, pain, and other symptoms that accompanied prolonged dialysis treatment, Wilson made the decision with her declining quality of life in mind.

“Before this time in my life, I was a go-getter who powered through anything,” remembers Wilson. “But after dialysis, I would have to come home and sleep 10 hours or more just to function. I had to cut back on things I enjoyed and miss out on many of my kids’ events.”

Down to just 100 pounds and hardly able to eat, Wilson was losing hope. She’d begun to mentally accept that her time would be cut short, a reality she’d now have to share with her three children.

Seconds after they walked into the restaurant, Wilson’s phone rang— it was WVU Medicine Transplant Alliance Center.

“How fast can you be at the hospital?” the Transplant Coordinator on the other end of the line asked hurriedly.

She didn’t know it then, but thirteen hours later Wilson would receive what she refers to as one of “the greatest gifts she’s ever received”— the gift of new life.

The Beginning (2002)

Growing up, Wilson enjoyed an active life. By age 17 — just two days after high school graduation— she enlisted in the United States Navy where she was on active duty from 1999 to 2003. Stationed on an aircraft carrier in Norfolk, Virginia, Wilson began to experience uncomfortable symptoms she chalked up to dehydration.

“I started having back pain, frequent urinary tract infections (UTIs), and blood in my urine,” says Wilson. “I was only 21 then. As far as I knew, I was healthy and just needed to increase my fluids.”

Eventually, the symptoms worsened and became impossible to ignore. Wilson finally sought medical care— and in November 2003, she was officially diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease (PKD).

PKD causes fluid-filled cysts in the kidneys, eventually reducing kidney function and leading to kidney failure . While symptoms can begin in early life, they typically surface between the ages of 30 and 40. A genetic condition, Wilson’s new diagnosis was through no fault of her own— the disease was due to a genetic mutation with no prior family history.

“My illness is caused by an inherited gene mutation,” says Wilson. “After my diagnosis, all my family members were tested. Luckily, I was the first in my family to have it, but unluckily I was disqualified from the military and life as I knew it was about to change drastically.”

“Before this time in my life, I was a go-getter who powered through anything,” remembers Wilson. “But after dialysis, I would have to come home and sleep 10 hours or more just to function. I had to cut back on things I enjoyed and miss out on many of my kids’ events.”

Life After PKD Diagnosis (2003-Transplant Day)

For the next decade, Wilson navigated PKD under the guidance of medical professionals.

Since PKD is typically a slow-progressing disease, early-stage treatment involves managing symptoms and slowing disease advancement.

“At that time, I was able to manage PKD with high blood pressure medication, loop diuretics, exercise, a low protein diet, and increased fluid intake,” says Wilson.

True to her resilient character, Wilson took initiative to improve the situation by enrolling in clinical trials aimed at creating drugs to slow disease progression. (The drug is now FDA-approved to slow down or prevent the progression of PKD).

Wilson recalls this period of her life as filled with both persistence and, admittedly, denial. Between ages 20 and 30, she had lost her husband while on active duty, gave birth to three children, received a life changing diagnosis, and moved back to her hometown.

“I was in denial for a while,” says Wilson. “I was a young, widowed mom in survival mode. I just kept thinking, ‘if I give up right now or think about this all the time, the outcome is going to be worse for me.’”

Soon after, she began to experience signs of disease advancement.

“I started to develop uncontrolled blood pressure, a common sign of progressing PKD,” says Wilson. “This meant lots of blood pressure medications, a restricted, renal-friendly diet, and other interventions.”

At the time of diagnosis a decade earlier, Wilson’s Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) —a blood test that measures kidney function— measured in the 90s. As she approached her 30s, however, those numbers dropped to the 20s.

By age 34, she was officially in complete kidney failure.

Persevering Through Kidney Failure (2019)

By her late 30s, under the advice of her medical care team, Wilson received an arterial fistula and began kidney dialysis.

Despite her declining health, Wilson continued to live life on her terms. She ate healthy, exercised frequently, and had no medical conditions unrelated to PKD.

“When I started dialysis, I was the only patient in the clinic who didn’t need fluid removed, common among dialysis patients in declining health,” says Wilson. “I was still urinating like normal, but my kidneys still weren’t functioning.”

Twice a week for four hours per day, Wilson would travel to the local clinic to receive kidney dialysis, a treatment that removes blood from the body, filters it through a dialyzer (artificial kidney), and returns the cleansed blood to the body. While the treatment may slow disease progression, dialysis can also cause debilitating fatigue in some patients.

“My quality of life was not good,” Wilson recalls. “I would come home to sleep 10 hours or more and eventually my kids began wondering, ‘Why is mom in bed for two days straight?”

Eventually, Wilson became a candidate for kidney transplant. But after six calls for kidney offers that didn’t work out, the future held an uncertainty Wilson worried she wouldn’t live much longer to see.

The Day the Call Came (2023)

On the morning she broke the news to her teenage daughter, Wilson was beginning to accept this fate.

That is until a Transplant Coordinator from the WVU Medicine Transplant Alliance broke the silence, just moments after she stepped into the restaurant.

“I was shocked,” remembers Wilson. “I just couldn’t believe I might have another chance to live a long, healthy life.”

Wilson was at WVU Medicine J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital within an hour of receiving the call. She received test after test to determine if the kidney would be compatible with her body. At 5 a.m. the following morning, biopsies confirmed the news— the donor kidney was a perfect match.

Not only would the kidney match, but its measure of how well and how long it would be expected to work, called Kidney Donor Profile Index (KDPI), was shockingly ideal. While most commonly available kidneys maintain a KDPI score of 20 – 85 and last 10 – 15 years, the kidney offered to Wilson was a 6, a score that held a high expected kidney lifespan and most patients never have the option to receive.

“My doctor assured me, ‘Chasity, this organ could last you the rest of your natural life,” Wilson remembers vividly. “I was shocked and so grateful.”

Transplant Day

Just thirteen hours after receiving the phone call that changed the trajectory of Wilson’s life, she kissed her mother and children in anticipation of the transplant.

“I remember thinking, ‘this could be the last time I see my children again,’” says Wilson. “WVU Medicine Transplant Surgeons reassured me they would see me through a successful surgery and my care team gave me medicine to help me relax— the rest is history.”

Wilson’s surgery took 10 hours. When she woke up, she was in shock and in pain. But true to her nature, she didn’t let it stop her from taking advantage of what she considers one of her life’s greatest gifts.

“Despite my discomfort, I was up walking less than 6 hours post-op,” says Wilson. “I knew I needed to both rest and move around, when possible, to encourage healing— and by day 2 I impressed my care team by walking without a walker.”

Wilson says her care team made all the difference in not only her physical recovery, but her mental wellbeing as well.

“My care while at WVU Medicine was excellent,” says Wilson. “I had amazing surgeons, while my coordinator, Jessie, checked in whenever I needed her, day or night. It’s obvious that they all really, truly care.”

Paying it Forward

With her parents and children as attentive caregivers, Wilson focused on rest and recovery over the month that followed transplant.

As she healed, she pondered how she could give adequate meaning to the life of the donor who gave her a healthy organ.

“I’ve been through a lot in this life, from losing a spouse and career, to raising a child on my own and then growing a family of two more, and now I’ve been given this gift of new life—what can I do with it?” says Wilson. “This boy who donated this organ was only 20 years old when he died— I need to give his life meaning.”

That’s when Wilson made the decision to become a nurse. Within 4 months of transplant, she enrolled as a nursing student at the Fayette County Career and Technical Institute, where she completed a one-year certificate and is now a graduated Licensed Practical Nurse.

After graduation, Wilson accepted a nursing position at WVU Uniontown Hospital.

“I’m thrilled to give back to my community and to WVU Medicine who gave me the gift of life. I couldn’t be happier to be part of the WVU family!”

Wilson hopes to help patients going through experiences similar to her own.

“Now I’m in a position where I can make an impact, and my goal is to support patients who are going through what I went through,” says Wilson. “I want to tell them that every day it will get better and help them mentally prepare for what’s ahead while being a caring nurse and a part of their care team.”

While Wilson’s risk of infection is high post-transplant, she follows all precautions and protocols and refuses to place restrictions on how she shows up for others.

“I accepted this gift to live, to help others, not to live in a bubble,” says Wilson. “I have scars that remind me why I’m alive. They tell my story— I survived when I wasn’t supposed to. And now I’m going to use my story to help others, too.”

Learn more about Kidney Transplant at WVU Medicine.