Roger’s new kidney

Roger Scott became a father in 1989. They told him he had a son. This was the only child he would have. Roger thanked God for this miracle of life, but little did he know just how big that miracle really was.

The child was named Jordan, and in time God used the son to work another miracle in Roger’s life. The baby would one day save his dad from an early grave.

Jordan and Roger were inseparable. They did so many things together. They were avid fishing buddies. The dad taught the son all he knew about basketball, classic cars, and landscaping. They were together constantly.

Then, in 2005, when Jordan was just 15, his mom and dad sat him down and told him the bad news. The doctors had discovered that Roger had IGA Nephropathy, a hereditary kidney disease that is found primarily in males. By the time the symptoms of the disease appeared in Roger, he was already moving toward total kidney failure.

Within a year, he was going to dialysis three times a week and he was placed on a transplant list to receive a new kidney. For the next eight years, Jordan sat with his dad during the dialysis treatment. They talked together; they prayed together, and they read the Bible together while they waited on word that a donor for Roger had been found.

That news never came; Roger’s blood type reduced his chances for a match, so his entire family continued to pray while Roger went on with his dialysis.

Then in 2012, things took a turn for the worse. Roger’s body became unresponsive to dialysis. His heart had to work harder and became enlarged. Soon, he was beginning to experience the effects of congestive heart failure. His body began to retain fluids at a dangerous level, and he was hospitalized frequently with pneumonia.

Now, the need for a kidney transplant had become critical, but the outlook was far from promising. God, however, had a different view.

Jordan stepped up to the plate. He would give his dad one of his kidneys.

At first, the family, including Roger, was firmly against it. Jordan was so young, and besides that, he had a little, two-year-old son of his own. What if this hereditary disease hit Jordan or his son, Milo, or both?

Nevertheless, Jordan remained resolute. He explained to his mother and grandparents that this was something he was compelled to do. He said he felt that God wanted him to give his dad one of his kidneys. Quietly, he made a powerful argument and counseled his family to trust that God knew what he was doing.

Jordan’s maternal grandparents had real difficulty with Jordan’s decision and so did his mother, but she understood her son. There was no way that she could ask him not to try to save his father, regardless of the risk — present or future.

Finally, when faced with Jordan’s intransigence, Roger gave in, and the father and son began the lengthy process for a kidney transplant at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco.

Accompanied by family members, Jordan and Roger were admitted to the UCMC for the transplant operation. Strapped to the gurney as they wheeled him into the operating room, a smiling Jordan Scott raised his arm, made a fist, and firmly said, “Let’s go.”

Both the father and the son came through their operations in good shape. There were no complications, and Jordan’s kidney, when it was placed in Roger’s body, began to work immediately.

In reflecting on the organ transplant, Jordan is certain they did the right thing. Never mind that the medical community says he runs the risk of developing IGA Nephropathy, himself. Never mind that little Milo runs the same risk. Jordan is certain that this is the will of God. That’s why he gave up a kidney to save his dad in the first place.

That miracle happened 10 years ago and both father and son are now in good health, praising the wisdom and goodness of God.

Jordan and his wife Krista, in addition to Milo, now have two more sons — Abel and Nolan — and with Roger they are all celebrating his healing.

“Greater love hath no man….”