Borrowed Time: Post Kidney Transplant, Man Relishes Life and Family

By ABIGAIL SMITH/Staff Writer

“Live like there’s no tomorrow—love like you’re on borrowed time.”
— Jason Gray

At 11 years old, Kenny Smith was diagnosed with failing kidneys. At that time, he didn’t know the treacherous journey before him.

“I started having trouble as a kid. … I was peeing blood,” Smith said. “My mom took me to the hospital, and they did all these tests. We stayed all day, and then we left. They wanted to see me again, but my mom was a bit of a wild child. So she never took me back.”

Smith lives in Bullard. He spent his childhood and early adulthood as an athlete, falling in love with boxing and the training involved.

“One day, I was jogging, and the next thing I knew, a man was waking me up on the side of the road where I had passed out. … I knew then that my luck had caught up to me,” Smith said.

After fainting, Smith went to the doctor, where he was informed that both his kidneys had failed and he would have to begin dialysis. Dialysis is a treatment used to remove extra fluid and waste products from the blood after kidneys begin to shut down.

“When you start doing dialysis, and you’re sitting in a chair, and you start looking at the 50 or 60 other people in that room doing dialysis too, you begin to think, ‘There is no way I am getting a kidney. Look at all these people,’ and it’s hard, it’s hard mentally,” Smith explained.

Doctors placed a port in Smith’s arm called a fistula which is used as an access point joining an artery and vein for dialysis. Later, Smith transferred to peritoneal dialysis at home which is received through a catheter that is placed in the patient’s abdomen.

“You go from being so sure of yourself to feeling your body giving out. And when you’re used to being so strong, it makes you look at your wife and kids and think, ‘I don’t want to leave them behind,’” Smith said.

Smith has been married to his wife, Heather Smith, for 24 years, with whom he shares two adult daughters.

“You just want that extra time, and you feel it slipping away little by little,” he said. “You keep looking at the people you love, and you always try to put on this happy face, but deep down inside, you’re killing yourself because you know it’s all fading away.”

After seven years on dialysis, Smith received a call in August 2022—the day before his 48th birthday—informing him they had found a match. He would receive a transplant the same day.

“When they called and said, ‘We got your match.’ It was like, we had won the lottery,” he said. “But then you start to think, what if I don’t wake up from this, or what if my body’s already too far gone? And then you’re sitting in the room with all your loved ones before they take you back, and you’re trying to take in everything about them because you’re scared this is the last time you will see them.”

Smith received a successful transplant, losing a total of 50 pounds of fluid during recovery.

“When this first started, I had a doctor tell me I was on borrowed time, and it stuck with me. I hear that in my head every day now, and I try to take advantage of everything because, if you think about it, we are all on borrowed time,” Smith said.

Smith now takes anti-rejection medicine twice a day, totaling 22 pills a day. He also has frequent blood work and tests to ensure his body is maintaining the transplant.

“I’ve had so many scars my whole life. … This is the first scar that when I see it, it makes me happy,” he said. “Every time I look at it, it makes me think, ‘Oh, this is my borrowed time,’”

Today, Smith focuses his energy on living a healthy lifestyle by working out, focusing on work, and appreciating his extra time with his family.

Smith speaks about his family dog, Auggie, who helped him through his medical journey.

“It’s a bond that is not understandable. This dog was pretty much there for me when I set up alone at the house doing treatments and became my best friend,” she says.

Gardening became a hobby for Smith after his transplant because he states he no longer cares about appearing strong. He says he wants to “slow down” and appreciate his “borrowed time” with his loved ones.

Smith says, “Extra time with my girls is worth the fight to stay alive.”

One kidney, one man, one shot at borrowed time.