WAGRAM – James and Angie Roper have a new gift, and like anyone with a long hoped for present they are overjoyed. It is one money cannot buy, one that came wrapped in someone else’s tragedy.

On Sept. 3, James Roper received a kidney transplant after having been on the waiting list for five years.

He lost the function of his kidneys in 2013 following a heatstroke that nearly killed him.

July 2 of that year was a work day like any other for Roper, or so he thought. It was a typical hot and humid summer day. Roper was a truck driver for the state Department of Transportation and worked outside as well, so he used to the conditions. He noticed that he was sweating profusely, but Roper didn’t think it was unusual given his work environment.

“That particular day we was out of the trucks doing hand work, and sweating all day” he recalled. “I didn’t think anything of it. It was like 90 some degrees, I kept thinking well, I guess that’s normal.”

Roper was still sweating when he got home from work. As the evening wore on he began to feel unwell and continued to sweat heavily. Late that night, Roper realized that something was seriously wrong.

“It was about 11:15, 11:30 when I couldn’t take it no more. I said to [Angie], ‘You’re going to have to take me to the doctor, so we started to the doctor, but I couldn’t take it,” Roper said.

By the time the couple reached Spring Hill Fire Department, Roper was in such bad shape they had to pull over and call an ambulance.

At the hospital, Roper’s blood pressure was dangerously elevated. After a battery of tests, Roper received a diagnosis.

“The next morning the doctor came in and told me I had had a heat stroke,” Roper said.

A nephrologist explained that the severe heat stroke had caused Roper’s kidneys to shut down and that he would have to take dialysis treatments.

“That threw me for a loop. I didn’t even know what dialysis was,” Roper said. “I had heard it talked about, but I didn’t know exactly what it was.”

Like any patient with a new diagnosis, Roper was overwhelmed and afraid.

“It was a hard pill to swallow, all the life changes” he said.

Early on he told his family that he didn’t want to take the treatments. His family wanted to abide by his wishes, but they did not want to lose their husband and father.

“I was heartbroken; I cried and cried,” Angela Roper said.

That’s when Angie intervened and calld James’ childhood friend, Willie McCrimmon.

McCrimmon and James had been friends since kindergarten. He was also taking dialysis and became Roper’s mentor. McCrimmon talked to his devastated friend and set the record straight about the treatments and what Roper could expect from the rest of his journey.

“He said, ‘Look, you want to live. It’s hard; I know because I’ve been through it,” James said thinking back to the day his friend saved his life. “He said, ‘It’s just the way you’ve got to live from now on until you get a kidney. I’m going to be there with you every step of the way.”

On Sept. 13, 2013, Roper started dialysis.

Roper and McCrimmon talked every day and McCrimmon made himself available to Roper whenever, wherever.

Those in need of organ transplants do not get them right away. In order to be put on the United Network for Organ Sharing – UNOS – waiting list, Roper had to go through another battery of tests.

A transplant team including a transplant surgeon, a transplant nephrologist, one or more transplant nurses, a social worker, and a psychiatrist or psychologist − has a system to evaluate process for a kidney.

According to the John’s Hopkins kidney transplant webpage transplant candidates will receive:

− Mental health evaluation. Psychological and social issues involved in organ transplantation, such as stress, financial issues, and support by family and/or significant others are assessed. These issues can greatly affect the outcome of a transplant. The same kind of evaluation is done for a living donor.

− Blood tests. Blood tests are done to help find a good donor match, to check your priority on the donor list, and to help the chances that the donor organ will not be rejected.

− Diagnostic tests. Diagnostic tests may be done to check your kidneys as well as your overall health status. These tests may include X-rays, ultrasound, kidney biopsy, and dental exams. Women may get a Pap test, gynecology evaluation, and a mammogram.

The transplant team reviews all of the information gleaned from the evaluations and makes a determination as to whether the patient is a good candidate for a transplant.

The family also considered live donation, but those willing were either too young or had a health condition that precluded them from giving up a kidney.

James went through the process and was placed on the list. For the next five years the family waited and prayed.

“It’s just that waiting period that you have to wait on that phone call,” said Angie Roper describing the anxiety of the next few years.

On Aug 14, the Ropers got a call to say that there was a kidney available, and James Roper was a match. But there was a hitch, there was one patient with a need more critical than his. If that person was healthy enough for surgery and elected to take the kidney Roper would have to wait. Roper tried not to let himself get too hopeful so that he would not be plunged into despair if the kidney did not go to him.

“When they call you they’ll let you know what place you are. I was always the backup person, so I never got excited,” James Roper said. “I didn’t want to get that excited and then they’d say was not going to get it.”

“I did, I was excited,” Angie Roper said countering her husband’s cautious optimism.

Three weeks later, on Sept. 2, James was again resisting the urge to let himself be too hopeful.

He received another call telling him he was second in line for a kidney.

“She said, ‘Well you know you can turn it down,” and I said, ‘I’m not turning down nothing because this one here is going to be the day,” James Roper said.

The couple had spent the early part of the day at a family reunion and the evening at a friends and family community dinner in Wagram. The call came at 10:30 during the community event.

“We went to see some of our old friends and classmates and people that we hadn’t seen in 30 year, since high school,” Angie Roper said with a huge smile. “That led into one of the best weekends of my life – from the family reunion to that event to him getting his kidney. I just go, wow!”

She described it as a “Bewitched” moment referring to the 1970s television show where magical things happened in an instant.

The Ropers waited on the second call from the transplant team hoping that he would not be told it was another false start.

When he did not receive the second call, he called the hospital back.

“She said, ‘Well Mr. Roper get some sleep,’ so I laid down. I normally don’t even hear my phone unless I’m about half asleep.” he said.

He definitely heard the next call at 5 a.m. that Sunday, but he assumed he was still second in line.

“I said, ‘I’m still number two, right?’ She said, ‘Mr. Roper that kidney is yours,” Roper said.

He was told to be at Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem by 8 a.m.

Roper said he was so shocked that the two hour trip seemed like driving from Wagram to Laurinburg.

Roper’s journey is still far from over. He will have to take antibiotics for a month to guard against a post-operative infection. He will also have to limit his guests and social activities to reduce the chances of illness. Between his normal medications, anti-rejection medications and other medications, Roper is taking 50 pills a day.

The couple is looking forward to the day when their life can return to near normal. They have had to give up extended vacations in favor of short-weekend trips so that Roper would be back in town to meet his dialysis appointments.

He had to give up his beloved fishing trips as well.

Roper had been a member of the fire department in Scotland County for 29 years serving most recently as assistant chief of Spring Hill Fire Department. He had to give that up.

“He loved being a fireman, and when that happened he didn’t get to do a lot,” Angie Roper said. “We just pray God will bless us to get back to a normal life.”

The two are grateful for all of the love, prayers and financial support they have received from friends, family, local churches and the community.

But they are most grateful to the family of the young person who decided to donate organs so that others might live.

“We are grateful to the family who allowed us to receive the kidney, and we want to keep them lifted up in prayer,” Angie Roper said.

The Ropers want to become advocates for organ donation.

A patient is placed on the UNOS list every 10 minutes in the US. To register to become an organ donor visit, www.donatelifenc.org.

James and Angie Roper, share a moment of joy before James is taken to surgery to receive a new kidney.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_AARoper.jpgJames and Angie Roper, share a moment of joy before James is taken to surgery to receive a new kidney.

By Beth Lawrence

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Reach Beth Lawrence 910-506-3169