Fred Breier

"Freddy, I love you! Good luck! And God bless us"

With a hug and a kiss, that's how Rita Breier said goodbye to her husband, Fred, as he headed to surgery — and she headed for surgery.

Three days after Christmas 2004, Rita donated a kidney to Fred. It was Fred's third kidney transplant.

"It was the best Christmas present ever — I didn't have to shop at all!" says Rita.

During their 27 years of marriage, Fred has had myriad health problems that stem from type 1 diabetes, diagnosed when he was 7. For most of his life, Fred's diabetes was in control and he led a very active life. He built his first house, remodeled another house, played racquetball and golf. His vision began to falter first. Then medication to control his blood pressure destroyed his kidneys. He had his first kidney transplant from a cadaver kidney in 1987. In 1992, he lost one leg below the knee. In 1993, he lost two fingers. In 1994, he lost the other leg below the knee. And he lost his vision and became legally blind, lost two more fingers, and had vascular problems that required placement of two stents in his heart. In 1998, he got fungal pneumonia and the first transplanted kidney began to fail rapidly. He needed hemodialysis three times a week for almost two years.

When dialysis wore him down, Fred's local physicians had told us he was too high a risk for a second transplant. In fact, they told him he would die on the operating table. Fred and Rita went to Mayo Clinic to explore their options. Physicians there told him he needed a transplant immediately, and Fred's sister, Cathy, was called upon. She'd been a match when Fred had his first transplant, but she had become pregnant and couldn't donate then. Fred received a kidney — his second — from Cathy in August 2002. It lasted four years. Fred's diabetes attacked the kidney, necessitating another transplant and devastating him and his wife.

"It deflates your bubble when you learn the kidney is failing," says Rita. "However, there was no question that Fred would seek another transplant. His quality of life on dialysis was not good. It was not an option he even considered.

"We prayed a lot and still do," says Rita. "It took several months for Fred to be evaluated for transplant, our insurance to approve a third transplant and to find a suitable kidney. I just knew I would be a match for Fred. Sure enough, after two and half days of testing at Mayo Clinic, I learned I was a match and could give Fred a kidney. During that time, Fred's condition worsened every day. His doctors wouldn't even know until the surgery if they would be able to connect the new kidney because Fred's body had been through so much, including significant vascular problems."

Imagine Rita's excitement, then, when she awoke without her kidney — which meant physicians had been able to do the transplant.

"If I could grow six more kidneys, I'd donate them. The surgery was a breeze," says Rita. "The transplant was on a Tuesday, and I got out of the hospital on Saturday. Fred got out a few days later. At Mayo Clinic, every person who came in the room to check on Fred shook my hand, looked in my eyes and asked from the heart how I was doing too. I know I wouldn't have my Fred with me today if we hadn't gone to Mayo Clinic."

Fred is grateful for the blessings of the cadaver kidney, his sister's kidney — and his wife's kidney. "Any time anyone gives a kidney, it's a blessing from God," he says.

And Fred is grateful for Mayo Clinic. "I tell everybody I know who needs a transplant or has cancer or anything else wrong with them to go to Mayo Clinic," he says. "It's the best. It changes lives. Everyone there, from housekeeping to X-ray technicians, is concerned about your well-being and taking care of you. The doctors are compassionate and can relate to your health problems and lifestyle."

Fred also is grateful for every day he is able to wake up, attach his prosthetic legs, insert his contact lenses so he can see and hit the golf course.

"Fred is such an inspiration to many people," says Rita. "He is always happy."

But Fred does have one regret. "I should have gone to Mayo Clinic a lot sooner."