Tracie Schrader, 46, was living on borrowed time.
Her transplanted kidney from 27 years earlier had exceeded the expected 10-to-20-year viability. When it began to fail last year, her doctor told her it was unlikely she would find a match, and they both knew her two sons had the wrong blood type.
Wendy Center, left, and Tracie Schrader.Her doctor was shocked when Schrader revealed she had already found a match. It was a miracle nine years in the making. Both Schrader and Wendy Center chose First Baptist Church, Fountain Inn, as their home church, even though each had to drive 30 minutes from opposite directions to get there. Today it is clear to both why they were brought to the same church: Center was Schrader’s donor match.
“God has had his hand in this situation from the beginning,” Schrader said.
The two women both sang in the church choir but were mere acquaintances until a year ago.
Center, a 36-year-old mother of two, said Schrader made an announcement to the church that her kidney was failing and she needed a donor. Center said she prayed about it and, one night after choir practice, approached music minister Johnny Andrews about how she could go about finding out if she was a match.
She read about the possible complications of donating a kidney – including, rarely, death – but nevertheless sent her information to see if she was a match. A month later, she was informed that she was a compatible donor.
Center said she was excited when she got the call. “But the more I read, the less excited I got,” she said. “I was frightened. It took me about a week to get through the process that my body was going to be cut open and an organ was going to be taken out.”
She said through much prayer – and even arguing with God – she finally found a peace and “knew this was all part of his plan.” Then she told Schrader.
“She gave me a big hug and said, ‘Do you really want to do this?’?” Center said. “I said, ‘Tracie, this is something I need to do.’?”
Schrader tried to talk Center out of it. She questioned whether one of her children might one day need her kidney and asked what she would do if her remaining kidney failed. “It is a big step. I wanted to make sure that she was sure,” Schrader said. “If that isn’t a selfless act, then I don’t know what is. Without it I would probably spend a lifetime on dialysis.” Schrader was on dialysis for about three months when she was 19 before her brother donated a kidney to her.
Doctors were set to do the transplant a year ago, but Schrader’s kidney was doing better and the surgery was put off. But, a few months ago, Schrader reached the point where her kidney was failing. And there was Center, waiting in the wings.
“Nobody could have worked this out any better than the way God did,” Schrader said. “There is no way you could not believe after my testimony. How this all came together, this has been God’s plan.”
The transplant was performed on Sept. 21, and both women are recovering well. Center, who had a minor setback but was recently released from the hospital, said she had to be home in time to sing in her church’s “A Living Christmas Tree” production on Dec. 4 and 5.
The two acquaintances who once sang on opposite ends of the choir loft are now good friends. “We started traveling this road together, and it has brought a real closeness,” Schrader said.
The impact of the transplant has reached far beyond the two women and their families. Andrews said it has brought their church family closer, as well. “What it has done for the church is that we’re all growing from it,” he said. “It’s helped us all to realize we can help one another.”