Kidney Donation in Charleston
Perry Skoglund was diagnosed with kidney disease in his 20s, a time when the gravity of the news didn’t quite register. He’d had some other medical issues already – elevated blood pressure, a floating blind spot in one of his eyes – and the resulting string of doctor appointments eventually led to a kidney biopsy. The doctor, he says now, looked “pained” at the results: Perry, not even 30 years old, was diagnosed with FSGS, or focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.
The origins of FSGS can be either blood-borne or genetic, and the path from diagnosis to dialysis is usually around a decade. On both counts, Perry was fortunate: His version was genetic, which meant slower, and he didn’t have to do much more than keep a watchful eye and take “a cocktail of drugs” for almost 30 years. Perry admits for those decades the situation didn’t seem particularly dire. He didn’t even make a habit of telling people about his illness.
“I had friends who were mad because I never shared it with them, but what could they do?” he asked. “And it didn’t weigh on me heavily until I had to start doing dialysis. I mean, I was 30-something years old, taking all these drugs. But still.”
From Diagnosis to the Transplant List
It wasn’t until 2022 that Perry’s doctor suggested getting on the Medical University of South Carolina transplant list, which launched a slow, tedious process of being thoroughly evaluated for every medical issue possible before receiving approval. “They don’t want to give a kidney to someone terminal,” he remarked, “so it took about a year. They have people who talk you through it, share their stories with you. Meanwhile, my wife Felicia and I put together a post on Facebook seeking a kidney donor.”
An Overwhelming Response to a Call for Help
Perry didn’t think many people would be willing to give him a kidney – but he ended up being completely wrong. The number of people who saw the post and signed up through MUSC “overwhelmed the system,” he said, and his medical team told him he’d received “a tremendous response.” Because of medical privacy, MUSC was not able to disclose to Perry everyone who’d signed up to help. But people told him themselves. He received numerous messages from friends he’d grown up with in Asheville, friends he’d gone to college with – even friends of friends.
“This woman messaged me on Facebook and told me about her niece who had needed a kidney,” he recalled. “The woman wanted to give her one, but as she was working through the process, her niece died. So she wanted to help me – and she didn’t know me personally. It was so heartwarming to see the generosity of people.”
A Neighbor Becomes the Donor
Finally, Perry got the phone call from MUSC: An anonymous donor was selected for his kidney transplant. About a week later, he found out who the donor was – his neighbor two doors down, James McKinney. The two men were already linked in many ways – not only were their wives friends and their son and daughter friends, they were even connected by real estate.
“James bought his house from a friend of mine who grew up in Asheville, who bought that house from another friend’s mother,” Perry explained. “So there’s always been a connection between me and the people in that house since I moved into this neighborhood – and of course there still is.”
Becoming a donor was already in the back of McKinney’s mind; he’s a physician who attended medical school at MUSC, now practicing psychiatry, and a good friend of his had donated a kidney years ago. “My wife saw the Skoglund family’s Facebook post about a donor, and I thought, ‘Someone in the neighborhood needs something – I could do that.’ As it got closer, I felt at peace. I never looked back or had second thoughts.”
Dialysis, Surgery, and Recovery
The surgery took place on June 5, 2024, about two years after Perry got on the transplant list. Because the process took so long, he endured months of dialysis starting in late 2023 and lasting until the day of his surgery.
“Dialysis is not a cure for having a kidney,” Perry said. “It just kind of . . . slows down the death process so you have time to get a kidney. And dialysis can make you tired and lethargic. Everyone knows kidneys filter your blood and create urine, but they actually do a lot more for your body.”
Perry described his surgery as being informed by a much earlier surgery he endured at age 15. At the time, he had a benign tumor in his neck, and, shortly after the removal, doctors urged him to get out of bed and start walking. At first, young Perry refused.
“Then my dad said ‘this is part of your recovery,’ so I finally did it,” he said. “Flash-forward to after my kidney transplant surgery – a nurse asked me to walk, and I was like, ‘Let’s go!’”
Life After Transplant and a Story That Helps Others
McKinney said that watching his neighbor’s ability to thrive has been worth the small risk he endured.
“The real joy has been watching Perry and his life transform – he’s playing tennis, driving a convertible, going on trips with his wife. He’s able to do things with ease he couldn’t before. And if our story can normalize kidney donation and help someone else’s life get saved, we’ve done a good thing.”
by Denise K. James
