CULLMAN, Ala. – It was a long year for the McNeal family. In March 2019, Sandre McNeal had just lost her father and was making arrangements for his funeral when she fell ill and had to go to urgent care, which sent her to Cullman Regional. After she was stabilized and released long enough to attend the funeral, she was sent to UAB Hospital where tests revealed that she was suffering from two different kidney disorders, one long-term but previously undiagnosed and the other acute. After two weeks of inpatient treatment, she was discharged but had to continue with home-based dialysis and steroid treatment. Over time, these procedures diminished in effectiveness to the point that the family and its physicians knew that something more drastic must be done.
Daughter Shannon McNeal related, “We had a lot of family conversations about transplant, and actually, every single member of my family- or all the direct family members: my two brothers and I and my dad- we all got tested to see if we were matches for transplant.”
The family was tested in December 2019 and all four members were found to be matches to Sandre. The family began studying numerous aspects of possible procedures, but somewhere along the line, husband Paul McNeal knew that there was only one right answer for him.
According to Shannon, “My dad really wanted to do it. He wanted to be the one, and so my parents came to that decision: that my dad was going to donate.”
Paul told The Tribune, “Sandre and I have been blessed in many ways: blessed with each other and three wonderful children. It was another blessing that I was a match and was given an opportunity to help her. It was an easy decision. I love her.”
Heading to the hospital, Paul had numerous concerns, saying that he was “worried that we’d all be okay in the end . . . worried about the kids, worried about Sandre and hoping that everything would work out well.”
The transplant took place Feb. 26, 2020, as Alabama and its healthcare systems were beginning to face a new issue known as COVID-19.
The simultaneous operations came off without any immediate problems. The new kidney, which can often take days to begin working, cranked up immediately, and Sandre was out of the hospital five short days after the procedure, staying in a Birmingham hotel so she could visit the hospital for daily lab tests.
A short time later, Paul suffered post-surgical complications that required a second operation. Despite an easy procedure, he spent five days in the hospital. But then, all was well and he was on his way home.
On Sandre’s last day before heading home to Cullman for good, though, her last set of lab results came back with something not right. Doctors were able to rule out organ rejection, but could not immediately identify the problem, so she was readmitted.
Then nearly the worst possible news came: the acute disease that had helped shut down her old kidneys had appeared in the donated organ. The condition was treatable, but would require the patient- who was taking standard post-transplant drugs to suppress her immune system- to sit for over two weeks in a room at UAB Hospital just as the facility was becoming the epicenter of COVID-19 response in the state.
Paul said of the staff at UAB, “I would have to say that they were all great. They were as eager to get us out of there- and Sandre out of there- as we were. They were very sensitive to what was going on. We had some terrific staff. There’s a section of the hospital that just deals with transplants and this kind of transplants, and that staff was just unbelievably excellent. The kidney transplant team: I can’t say enough great things about them and the coordinators. There’s a lot involved in something like this, needless to say, but they were very aware and doing everything they could to get us out of there.”
Sandre added, “We had, really, two things going on. One was just the transplant care, which was just outstanding with the kidney transplant team, and the surgeons and nephrologists that are specific to kidney transplant, and the nurses on the transplant hall that are very attuned to everything that needs to transpire with the transplant patients. And that was just fabulous care; I can’t say enough good things about all of them.
“At the very same time, the COVID-19 just really starting up right about this time that we went in for transplant. Then, when I went back in the hospital the second time, we were really all very concerned especially then, because we started seeing more cases of COVID-19 in Jefferson County and hearing about it a little more in the hospital. And the staff at the hospital was just getting used to what to do to their procedures, and to wear the protective equipment, and to wear extra gloves and use the sanitation devices, all that kind of stuff.”
Sandre saw staff taking extra precautions and putting on extra gear when they came to visit, and found them working hard to get her out of the hospital and into outpatient care as rapidly as possible.
Said Sandre, “I was really impressed that, within a two-week period of time, they were taking a lot more precaution among the staff, and started really kicking things into high gear in the hospital. That was really impressive, and I was very thankful.
“Just in our room, we had Lysol spray and Clorox wipes, and hand sanitizer and masks. And when people would come in, they said, man, we had a fresh-smelling room because we really kept it wiped down in there. The doctors would come in and use our spray, and they were all grateful for it. We were just doing everything we could at the time to keep me safe and get me back home to be with Paul, and out of that environment.”
The couple got out of UAB as healthy as they could be under the circumstances, and since that time, the condition has steadily improved. Sandre is home, where both she and Paul are safely quarantined and resting. He is once again back close to normal and she no longer has to receive dialysis.
Said Shannon, “Huge shout out to my dad, obviously, for donating! And it was really hard to go through that, for everything that he had to do. It ended up being a more complicated process than he had thought but, obviously, it was worth it in the end for everybody, because my mom’s a lot better off, now. It was just a very stressful time, but it turned out really positive; it turned out for the best. I’m glad she went through with transplant. We’re just basically taking it one day at a time, now, but everything’s looking up.”
Sandre said of her husband, “Paul gave me my life. I desperately needed a kidney – mine had completely failed and I was doing dialysis 24/7. You know when you say the vows ‘for better or for worse, in sickness and in health…’ when you’re young and healthy, it’s hard to grasp what they really mean. Paul showed me love in action. He’s my everything. I love him completely and forever! He really is my hero, and I just can’t say enough, because I love him dearly, and he put his love into action. We all say things, and it’s different when you put it into action.”
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