Mother seeks kidney for son

Jul. 7—In September 2020, life changed forever for Renee Queen, when her son, Brody Queen, began throwing up blood. They took him to the hospital, thinking he had an ulcer. After a visit with the nurse practitioner and a review of blood work, it was determined there was something more going on. A migraine that wouldn't go away hit him next and the family went to Holzer Medical Center in Jackson. From there, he was sent to King's Daughters, where he learned he was in stage 5 kidney failure.

The kidney disease was initially misdiagnosed as gout and was treated with high doses of antibiotics, which caused the young man to develop cataracts, develop damage to his fingers in the form of joint calcification and amputation, and ultimately fractured vertebrae.

He has been on kidney dialysis since, working on stabilizing himself and was recently approved for transplantation.

Queen says that she has a family history of the disease, but never imagined it would hit her son before her.

"My mother had a kidney transplant in 1984 and her brother was the donor. My brother had one ten years ago and his adoptive son was the donor," Renee Queen said. "We have an older son, and we were hoping he would be the donor for Brody, but we had genetic testing done at OSU and it was determined he also had the gene and wasn't an option."

Since 2020, they've been looking for a transplant opportunity, with Brody having less than ten percent functioning kidneys when he was admitted.

"They tried to jump start it with a high dose of prednisone, but it did not respond," Renee Queen recalled.

Renee Queen says that the family has been waiting for a transplant opportunity since that time.

"OSU is very strict," Renee Queen explained. "Because of the health issues he was having, if you miss an appointment, reschedule, or anything, you get bumped from the list and it took us having regular meetings until March of 2023 to get approved and placed on the transplant list."

Renee explained that kidneys don't have a shelf life, they have a lifespan, so, a perfect donor is someone younger who doesn't smoke and matches his O blood type. She says that she doesn't stress the blood type, however, because of a program at OSU that they can benefit from.

"They have a pairing program at OSU," Renee Queen explained. "Say a young person was willing to donate and everything looks good, then they can donate to someone else who is a match, and he could end up with a kidney in that same way, if that makes sense."

Renee explained that his disease has been a focal part of family life since 2020.

"It's consumed my entire life since it happened," Renee Queen claimed. "I knew it was something we had to watch, but they were off my radar, because I thought it would be me."

Despite the hurdles, Renee says that her son is one of the toughest people she knows and is working hard to be as strong to support him.

"When Brody was a junior in high school, he was fielding a baseball before a game in Oak Hill. There was a ball. It wasn't the ball he was supposed to hit, but the person after him. He had already turned his back on the coach and was circling around to get back in line. The coach hit a ball that was a little too high and went in his direction. The coach yelled his name to warn him. Brody turned around and ended up losing four front teeth. I fought for nine months to get implants. Brody had a flipper for a while, and we would go to games, and he would pitch within a week of knocking his teeth out, but the whole time he had the flipper, it was nothing for him to go out with his team after a game and tell the waitress there was something in his drink after plopping it in. He is just like that. He is good spirited. He rolls with everything every step of the way. There were times we thought he would bottom out, but he didn't. If anyone could handle this, it was Brody."

Prior to the diagnosis, Brody Queen was an outgoing, involved person who was always on the move and working for Sofidel. The disease has hit him hard, but he continues on.

"It's honestly been insane. For some people, certain aspects of it wouldn't affect too much of their lives, but I was always outgoing and out doing something," Brody Queen told the Times. "So, it really knocked me down a few pegs. The first year, year and a half, was really rough on me. In the last year, things have turned around. My health has improved, I'm on the transplant list, and things are looking better."

Brody explained that despite his hurdles, he remains optimistic about his battle.

"You don't have a choice with this," Brody Queen explained. "You have to keep positive."

To request information on whether you're a match for Brody or someone else, visit www.osuwexmedlivingdonor.org.

"We just need one person to be the right person," the mother said.

For more information on Brody's particular situation, or to offer help, email Renee at kidney4brody@gmail.com or call 740.285.1226.

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at jpratt@aimmediamidwest.com, © 2022 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved