One year from now, Todd Hauptman will be preparing to graduate from university.
Fifteen months ago, he was in a drug-induced coma after he suffered several grand mal seizures, triggered by a massive build up of toxins which dialysis had failed to remove from his body.
As he lay in his Royal Columbian Hospital room, Tanya Tait was at Vancouver General, receiving the all-clear for an operation in which surgeons would remove one of her kidneys, and transplant it into Todd.
Todd’s failing kidneys kept him on dialysis for nine hours every day for almost three years. He was four when his parents learned he had Alport’s syndrome, a rare disease which affects one in 50,000 people. An inherited condition, Alport’s typically appears during childhood and is more prevalent and serious among boys. It can lead to end-stage renal disease and deafness.
Todd had his first dialysis treatment when he was 21. His name was placed on a waiting list for a cadaver organ, and he was told to expect a wait of up to 10 years.
He turned to family and friends to see if any were willing and able to give a kidney.
Todd was 14 when he offered to help then-Langley MP Randy White’s re-election campaign. Tait worked for White and is now Conservative MP Mark Warawa’s communications press secretary. Their passion for politics formed the basis of their friendship.
A few days before the March 31, 2010 transplant, Todd anticipated what life would be like with a healthy, functioning kidney:
“I will know freedom, a freedom that will allow me to live my life to the fullest, and for me that is a life-giving gift. I know that when I look back on my life, I will know that this . . . will be a life-turning event.”
•••
With the buzz of another federal election in the air, the talk is all about politics. Then the conversation is nudged back to the one-year anniversary of the transplant.
Todd, 24, speaks first.
“My life has changed in many ways, big and small ways. I’m not on dialysis any more. I have a future to think about, dreams to pursue, dreams I couldn’t even think about. Now it’s real, not a concept. I don’t think there is one area of my life that has not been affected.”
Meal times have become the pleasure they are meant to be.
Before the transplant, Todd had to avoid many foods, especially those containing phosphorus and potassium. Carrots, sweet potatoes and bananas, tomatoes, chocolate, cheese, cream sauces, many cereals and yoghurt, were all off the menu.
“Prior to the transplant a lot of foods simply didn’t taste so good,” he said. “Now just to be able to enjoy food is a blessing. I enjoy the ability to eat without restrictions.”
To mark his 24th birthday a few months after the transplant, his mother, Debra, made him a chocolate dessert.
“That was a real treat.”
He expresses profound appreciation for Debra and his stepdad, Rob. “I have been able to live my life the way I have because of their support, love and encouragement,” he said.
Long before the transplant, Todd had embarked on a campaign to halt the trafficking of humans for slavery. This led to the hugely successful Freedom March and rally in Langley on March 12.
His renewed strength has enabled him to carry on with his passion to make a difference.
“There is no question in my mind that I want to do bigger things — not just in Langley. I don’t want the busyness of life to distract me. With the gift I’ve been given, I don’t want to waste a moment.”
He is passionate about politics, not because of the power or the game, but because he knows it’s a vehicle from which he can launch his social activism and other causes.
Todd, who will graduate from the University of the Fraser Valley next year with a degree in political science, hopes to pursue a career in public relations, and ideally work for a non-governmental organization (NGO).
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A new kidney, nestled among his own two failed organs, has brought about many changes, among them the nine hours a day that he no longer spends hooked up to a dialysis machine.
He says that Tanya’s kidney has brought new meaning to Jesus’ words at the Last Supper: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Tanya, 41, is quick to say that her gift pales in comparison to the sacrifice made by her husband, Chuck, and their two children, especially as the recovery took longer than anticipated.
There’s no question that she would do it again.
“Absolutely,” she said, “It was a sacrifice worth making.”
She returned to work nine weeks after the transplant, and the only lingering effect is low energy, a common reaction in organ donors.
“They told me all along that recovery from surgery is one year. It’s one year now, and I’m looking forward to a very energetic summer.”
•••
Before the operation, Tanya said that having an organ cut from her to give life to another human being, elevated the act to a spiritual level.
“It’s self-serving because I get to see Todd live and go on to do all the things he is going to do with his new life,” she had said shortly before the transplant.
“I’m doing this because there is a higher purpose of peace and empowerment.”
Now there’s more. “I value that I’m vested in his life. I get to enjoy that, too.”
They joke that Todd, known for his gift of the gab, has become even more talkative because when he got Tanya’s kidney, he got a shot of her energy.
Like the siblings they feel they have become, there’s gentle ribbing, but what goes deeper is that they have become soul mates, one soul in two earthly bodies.
“I truly believe that is how it is with us,” Tanya said, “It doesn’t end with the kidney donation. I’m going to be there for him, and he for me, through all the joys and the struggles.”
