UC Davis treats first Kaiser kidney patient

The first patient transferred from Kaiser Permanente’s transplant program in San Francisco underwent transplant surgery at UC Davis Medical Center on Friday. Transplant center surgeons Richard Perez and John McVicar transplanted a kidney from a live donor to a 28 year-old former student who had been on dialysis for the past five years.

“We received patient records last week, received a follow-up call about this particular case on Tuesday, and had the donor and recipient evaluated and ready for transplant on Thursday,” said Perez, professor of surgery and director of the UC Davis Transplant Center. “The quick transfer of this patient shows that the process can go smoothly and efficiently.”

Transplant recipient Simeon Trotter suffers from chronic glomerulonephritis, a type of kidney disease that hampers the kidneys' ability to remove waste and excess fluids. Trotter received a kidney from long-time family friend and retired nurse Joan Roby. Roby and Trotter are members of the same church in Davis and have known each other for 15 years.

“This is a great gift,” said the Dixon resident. “I am so thankful that Joan was willing to go through the process for me.”

This is the second kidney transplant for Trotter, who was first diagnosed with kidney disease at age 15 and received a kidney from his father a year later. The original transplant, however, was rejected in 2001 when he was 23. Since then, Trotter has undergone nine surgeries to keep his blood vessels open so they could continue to serve as a port for dialysis treatment. And earlier this week, his case became more medically urgent as he had run out of sites for dialysis access.

“Dialysis has always been a difficult process for me,” reflected Trotter. “My body has never been able to establish a permanent port, so nurses had always had to find temporary sites, such as vessels in my neck and groin. Over the years, I’ve had 20 to 30 different temporary sites used on my body just to get dialysis.”

But lucky for Trotter, earlier this year, Roby was curious about what was involved in becoming a kidney donor and began asking questions. To her surprise, it wasn’t as difficult a process as she had thought.

“I always thought that the odds for kidney donors matching up with a recipient was extremely rare, something like one in 10,000,” said Roby. “It’s actually a much more simple process that starts with being of a compatible blood type and having good health — no diabetes or high blood pressure, no smoking, and not being overweight. When I found out that having one kidney wouldn’t significantly affect my life, I prayed and felt led to become a donor.”

The two will recuperate in the hospital over the next several days. Typical length of stay for a donor is two-to-three days after surgery, and for a recipient it’s five-to-seven days.

“I want to get through the transplant and take one day at a time,” said Trotter. Eventually he will think about going back to California State University, Sacramento, where he studied business before kidney disease interrupted his plans.

And for Roby, who teaches sewing to third-graders, she has two of her children’s graduation ceremonies that she plans to attend next week and the following week. “I expect everything to go well,” she said. “It’s in God’s hands.”

Trotter is the first of some 35 Kaiser patients that UC Davis expects to receive from the first wave of patients transferred from Kaiser’s Bay Area program. Kaiser placed a total of 141 patients on their “status 1” list, which includes patients like Trotter who are considered most ready to receive a cadaveric or living donor transplant.