A Kidney Journey Fueled by Hope
His father died at 68. Louis Gaudreau had the same kidney disease, with a different outcome.
Louis Gaudreau knew what polycystic kidney disease meant. He’d watched his father endure years of dialysis before dying at 68.
When tests confirmed that Gaudreau had the same hereditary condition, he knew the path ahead: cysts slowly overtaking the kidneys, eventually leading to complete kidney failure.
There is no cure.
About 35 million people in the US live with chronic kidney disease. For many, dialysis or a kidney transplant is the only way to survive. Roughly 100,000 people are waiting for a kidney, but only one in four will get one. Those who do not often spend several hours a day, several days a week, at dialysis — usually with a partner to help.
A Physician Noticing the Gaps
Jeffery Rimmer, MD, a nephrologist at University of Vermont Health – UVM Medical Center, had watched patients struggle for decades.
“I was seeing people coming to dialysis with little or no preparation,” he says. “Someone would miss an appointment, it wasn’t followed up, and a year later that patient was in the emergency department. That bothered me.”
Dialysis keeps people alive, but it’s only part of the picture. Diet, exercise, and medications also play critical roles. Gaudreau saw firsthand how dangerous small miscalculations can be; his father died of a heart attack triggered by an imbalance of salt and potassium, a common complication with kidney failure.
A New Model of Care
Dr. Rimmer believed patients needed earlier, more consistent support. In 2021, he launched the Chronic Kidney Disease Navigator Program, modeled after a similar program created by Dialysis Clinics Incorporated, a nonprofit global kidney care organization. The program helps patients understand diet, exercise, medications and dialysis options to stay healthier and avoid crisis. A recent analysis comparing patients in the program with those who were not showed striking results.
“The difference in cost between the two groups is about $22,000 a year less for people who went through the program,” Dr. Rimmer says. “For managed care in general, that’s what we’re seeing across the board.”
Patients in the program had fewer emergency department visits and were healthier overall. This in turn made them more suitable for a possible transplant. Since then, UVM Health has adopted or developed several managed care programs showing similar results.
A Second Chance Against the Odds
Gaudreau needed that advantage. Not long after entering the program, he was later diagnosed with leukemia. Most transplant programs decline candidates with cancer, but Dr. Rimmer believed Gaudreau’s leukemia behaved more like a chronic condition and was treatable long-term.
He had previously referred a similar patient to Mass General’s transplant program, a large program willing to consider complex cases. To Gaudreau’s shock, Mass General accepted him.
Without that phone call, it never would have happened.
Searching for a Donor
Being accepted was one challenge, but finding a donor was even more difficult. “It can take five to seven years for a deceased donor,” Dr. Rimmer says. “There really needs to be an emphasis on living donors.”
Living donors offer shorter wait time and better outcomes, but finding a match is tricky. Ten people volunteered to give Gaudreau a kidney, including his sister. All were rejected for blood type or other medical reasons.
He was devastated but determined not to lose hope.
A Friend Steps Forward
After a day of skiing, Gaudreau and his wife Nancy were saying goodbye in the parking lot to close family friend Maureen White. Gaudreau was upset after learning that his sister had just been rejected.
White and Nancy had raced as Nordic skiers in high school and became teammates at University of Vermont. That day, White asked Louis his blood type.
“My blood type’s like my attitude, B positive,” he said.
“I’m B positive, I’ll give you a kidney,” she replied.
To the astonishment of both Louis and Nancy, White passed every screening. On Dec. 3, 2024, Louis got a new kidney. Or rather a “used” kidney, they joke. After surgery, he shed 18 pounds of fluid that had built up during dialysis despite his best efforts to manage his diet.
Living Fully Again
More than a year later, Gaudreau is healthier than he has been in decades. His new kidney is functioning well. He now spends more hours hiking or skiing than they ever spent hooked to a dialysis machine.
“It didn’t just free me,” he says. “It freed Nancy.”
Louis Gaudreau recently celebrated his 70th birthday — two years beyond his father’s lifespan.
"It’s a gift we will never be able to repay,” Nancy says.
Learn more about the Chronic Kidney Disease Navigator Program
If you want to learn more about how to become an organ donor, visit https://donatelife.net/
