After waiting more than two years for a kidney transplant, Lometa resident Michael Miller finally has his match.
On Monday, Miller met his donor, Brandi Watkins, an AdventHealth Rollins Brook hospital employee and Lampasas resident. He couldn’t hold back tears when describing his emotions after learning in early April of Watkins’ plans to donate a kidney.
“It was life-changing. It meant the world to me,” Miller said. “It was like adding somebody else to my family, because I’m never going to forget.”
Miller is a diabetic who suffered from high blood pressure, which led to kidney damage. After receiving a cardiac catheterization to treat his high blood pressure, the dye used in the procedure led to kidney failure, causing Miller to start dialysis treatments.
On Dec. 18, 2023, Miller learned he needed a kidney transplant.
Going through dialysis treatments had made it hard for Miller, a husband and father of three children, to continue working. He coped by staying involved with his family.
“I kept myself busy by coaching Little League,” he said. “I tried working here and there, but it is not something I could do all the time doing dialysis every other day.”
Watkins learned of Miller’s story through a Facebook post from a mutual friend. Immediately, she felt a rush to take action.
“I don’t know how to explain it other than I read it and thought, for some reason, this is meant for me,” Watkins said. “And so I thought, ‘OK, I’ll sit and pray about it,’ cried over it a little while, filled out the stuff online and just thought ‘If it is not meant for me, God won’t make it happen.’ ” Watkins, a radiologic technologist, is accustomed to seeing patients on their worst day. She has even lost family members due to cancer. As a passionate healthcare worker, she said it is in her DNA to always be willing to lend a helping hand.
“I know if I didn’t do this, it would be something I would regret for the rest of my life,” Watkins said. “Losing someone as an adult, it was awful. I can’t imagine being a child and having to worry about my father. I knew it was something I could not pass up.”
After deciding to become Miller’s donor, Watkins participated in medical tests to ensure the pair were a match. After the exams gave the green light for the procedure, Watkins contacted Miller by telephone to break the news to him. Despite having never met, the pair already felt like family.
“I honestly don’t know how we don’t know each other, because once we started talking we have so many mutual friends,” Watkins said. “It was definitely meant to be. We have so many mutual friends between our two small towns that it is pretty wild. Somehow, we have never crossed paths before.”
The transplant procedure is scheduled for Tuesday at St. David’s North Austin Medical Center. Miller said he is ready to have a new lease on life.
“Right now, I live my life tired every single day, sticking needles in my arm every single day,” he said. “So, to go from that and hopefully be able to go back to work and live a normal life again, that is what I’m hoping for.”
The kidney transplant procedure will last several hours. Instead of focusing on what could happen, the family man has faith the surgical procedure will be seamless.
“Just excited, a little nervous,” Miller said. “I kind of have thoughts like everybody: ‘Is something bad going to happen while I’m sitting there, or is everything going to turn out fine.’ I try to put my faith in God and know that everything is going to be perfect.”
After the procedure, Miller will travel to Austin twice a week to allow doctors to check his progress. In his second month of recovery, he will venture to the capital city for weekly checkups. The family has launched a GoFundMe page to raise funds for these travel expenses. Those interested in supporting Miller may visit https://gofund. me/556bb5379.
“This [transplant] is giving me more time that I wasn’t going to be able to have with my kids,” Miller said. “Like I said, life-changing. It is changing my entire life. Hopefully, it gives me a fresh start and a fresh look. I heard people say ‘I feel like I’m a brand-new person after getting a kidney transplant,’ and I hope I do.”
