Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has put a spotlight on what the kidney community has known for decades. Underlying diseases—such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease—leave individuals, especially people of color, vulnerable to severe medical conditions. As a survivor of COVID-19 and a recipient of a kidney transplant, I fall into the category of these underlying diseases. When you incorporate my chronic illness with the current climate of fear, anxiety, and sadness due to the uncertainties with COVID-19, it negatively affects your mental and physical health.
In late March 2020, COVID-19 infected my wife, Tina, and I. Tina’s symptoms had worsened to the point that the physicians admitted her into the COVID-19–designated intensive care unit for 6 days. During that time, our only means of communication was through FaceTime. Gazing at her, and seeing the streams of tears running down her face, left me helpless and devastated. As a husband unable to physically be near the woman who never left my side during my tumultuous kidney-transplant journey, all I could do in return is to show my support and optimism through words of encouragement. During our interactions, my words were masking the pain, hurt, and hopelessness of our situation.
There was a point during a FaceTime conversation where I was looking at my wife lying in her hospital bed, struggling to breathe. For a brief moment, I had a flashback to my April 2017 kidney journey. On April 21, 2017, I received a kidney transplant. When I woke up from the surgery, the doctor told me that my new kidney was not working yet. During my transplant journey, I endured 24 hours of hemodialysis every other day, a total of four surgeries, 33 days of hospitalization, and it ended with my kidney starting to work on the 47th day. Tina refused …
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