MARLIN, Texas (KWTX) – A Central Texas man is beginning a new chapter as he is in San Antonio for a life-changing kidney transplant.
Dustin Jones walked out of his final dialysis session on June 30 to a crowd of supporters. 12 years after polycystic kidney disease diagnosis and two years after losing both kidneys to it.
“His kidneys were 19 pounds when they were removed and a normal kidney only weighs a half a pound to a pound,” Dustin’s mom, Carla Norlie, says.
Dustin is now in San Antonio getting ready for a transplant, a chance to feel whole again after years of pain and exhaustion.
“Every person we have talked to who has had a kidney transplant says they opened their eyes and felt like a whole new person,” Norlie says. “He has felt so bad for so long that I don’t think he knows what feeling good feels like.”
Norlie says a donor was found last year but his body needed time to catch up. Until now. Norlie says her advocacy for organ donation continues to grow as it’s the one thing that is keeping her family whole.
“If you want to be a hero in somebody’s life, it is absolutely life changing and we are so thankful for our donor. She’s an angel sent to us,” Norlie says.
And that mission just got more urgent. “His daughter was just diagnosed with the disease and we are hoping for strides so that she doesn’t have to go through this,” she says.
Dustin wasn’t prepared for the celebration they had planned. From friends, to family, first responders, and the doctors who have helped keep him alive.
Dustin was in no short supply of love and hope for the future.
Dustin will start getting prepped for surgery July 1 and he will undergo the transplant on July 2.
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