His Grandmother’s Kidney Donation Helped Save His Life
Nathan Rose, 17, plans to spend his spring break with his grandmother in Arkansas. The high schooler and his grandmother have always been close, but their bond became even tighter nearly six months ago when she made it possible for him to get a new kidney.
She donated her kidney to someone who needed it and in turn he received a kidney in September from someone who was a match.
It seems only fitting that they spend some time together during his spring break which falls during National Kidney Awareness Month.
Nathan was a happy and healthy teenager until September 2023 when he suddenly had an attack of anxiety at school. He started sobbing and couldn’t explain it or even understand what was going on. He called his father to come pick him up from school and by the time his father arrived his anxiety had subsided but he was having severe stomach pain.
“I told my dad something wasn’t right,” Nathan said.
They went to the emergency room where doctors gave Nathan Pepto Bismol and sent him home. But a few days later Nathan was having severe diarrhea and couldn’t walk without a lot of pain. Nathan and his dad headed back to the emergency room where doctors took his blood pressure and ran some blood tests.
Nathan’s blood pressure was extremely high and his creatinine levels were five times the normal levels. His kidneys were failing.
“Then they told me there’s no cure for that,” Nathan said. “They were hoping it was an injury and my kidney would recover. I stayed the night in the ER and then they sent me to Oakland Kaiser where they did a kidney biopsy. They told me I had Microscopic Polyangiitis – MPA. I was like what’s that, it’s a mouthful.”
The doctors explained Nathan’s vasculitis diagnosis and how it affects the body.
The put me on steroids and put a catheter in my neck,” Nathan said. “I was just along for the ride.”
He stayed in the hospital three weeks and started dialysis and then the sent him home with steroids and blood pressure medicine. He also had a schedule for dialysis three days a week. The dialysis center was about 45 minutes from his home and he spent several hours there.
“It was a lot of older people, all sick and dying,” he said. “I was the only kid in there. I was 15 at the time. It was so depressing. I didn’t want to be there.”
Then a week after he was released from the hospital, he developed Pres Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder characterized by swelling in the brain, a result of his high blood pressure.
He said he came home on Oct. 6 and remembers being exhausted and just wanting to sleep.
“I went to lay down and take a nap,” he said. “I was lying in my bed when I had a seizure.”
His father called 911. An ambulance came to take him to the hospital. He had a second seizure on the way. His third seizure came while he was in the hospital.
“I remember waking up three days later and I asked what happened,” Nathan said. “I didn’t remember it. Thankfully what happened was reversible.”
He also remembers seeing his parents, who are divorced, standing together by his hospital bed. He said he could see their concern for him, but also that they were together to support him through his recovery. He said his parents’ support for him has never wavered and he is grateful for that.
Nathan, who splits his time between his parents’ homes, stayed in the hospital 10 days this time. He was sent to UCSF where they took over his care and put him in a pediatric dialysis center. That was a huge change for Nathan. There were only four patients to a room and they were all young. He spent the next 11 months going to dialysis.
“I would go pretty early, mostly on my own,” he said. “I Would get there at 7 a.m. and do three hours of dialysis.”
He was nearly 16 when it started and insisted on going alone because it was tedious.
“I didn’t want them to sit with me at dialysis,” he said. “I was grown and I wanted to put my head down and go through it. I wanted to push through it. There was no sense in bringing my mom and dad with me.”
Even though he insisted on being independent the days were hard for him.
“I was missing my sophomore year of high school,” he said. “I wanted to play volley ball. All of my friends were having fun and enjoying life. I was stuck at home not having any fun, not learning.” 
And then his maternal grandmother offered to donate her kidney. It turned out his grandmother, who was 63, couldn’t donate directly to Nathan. Instead, he got a kidney from someone in their 30s who lives in Michigan because his grandmother donated her kidney to someone else.
“I had a lot of days talking to my team,” he said. “I was hoping for May or June for the surgery. It kept getting pushed back. She donated her kidney on September 21 and I had my surgery on September 24.”
As soon as he could he started going back to high school where he is in his junior year. He celebrated his 17th birthday in December. He said he talks to his grandmother nearly every day, who is doing well after the surgery. He hopes to make the volleyball team his senior year of high school.
He’s also looking to his future beyond high school now, trying to figure out what’s ahead.
“I kind of wanted to go into the medical field. But there’s a lot of school with that,” he said. “I would like to be a nurse so I can help kids that are in the same situation I was.” 
He also likes to travel and to fly, so working as a pilot is also on his list of possible futures.
For now, he has joined the Vasculitis Foundation’s teen chat group where he tries to support other teens who are newly diagnosed.
“I love talking with people who are going through the same thing,” he said. “I want them to know, there is most definitely a light at the end of the tunnel. This is a small period. You have so much life in front you. Try not to let your disease define you.”
When Nathan describes himself, he says, “I am Nathan who had a kidney transplant, but I am also Nathan who likes volleyball and hanging out with friends.”
