PORTLAND, Maine — Todd Dostie was 21 years old when he first learned his kidney was failing and he would need a transplant to survive.
A family friend, who was a doctor, noticed Todd didn't look like himself and urged him to go to the local hospital. Within minutes of returning home from his visit, Todd said the phone was ringing and the doctors were asking him to come back.
In that moment, Todd's life changed forever.
"All I said to the doctor was, ‘Okay, what are my options? What do I have to do? Shat do I need to do to get a transplant?'" Dostie said. "I didn't think, 'Oh, I'm going to go on dialysis' and, 'It's poor me' or this or that. It was, 'What are my options? What do I have to do to get better?'"
Todd was determined. After a year of dialysis, he received another call that his doctors had found a match. He was scheduled for surgery on Dec. 29, 1992. However, kidney transplants don't last forever. Todd's would last eight years before he received the news, once again, that his organ was shutting down.
Todd remained determined.
"I'm a fighter. I'm not going to give up," Dostie said. "That's just who I am, you know. That's why I'm here."
This time, though, his doctors had more bad news. Todd’s blood was full of antibodies that would make it nearly impossible for him to find a match. He faced a 100% rejection rate, meaning 100% of the kidneys offered would be rejected by Todd's body. His doctor, Dr. James Whiting with MaineHealth's Maine Transplant Program, said Todd would need someone with an almost exact body chemistry to donate an organ.
"I think a lot of us felt he would probably never get transplanted," Whiting said. "Every meeting, he would come up and he would be at the top of the list and, after years, you just start looking at it and go, ‘Yeah, he's at the top, but he's not going to be able to accept anything’."
As the years went by, Todd said he tried to live each day like it might be his last. He managed to balance dialysis, doctor’s appointments, and a day job. Todd even began coaching ice hockey for Waterville and Winslow high schools, which has since become the Waterville, Winslow, and Gardiner hockey team.
"I really believe that coaching the kids has also attributed to keeping me alive and keeping me young and keeping me doing this," Dostie said. "Because, no matter how sick I was, no matter how bad I didn't want to go, I knew those kids were counting on me to go to practice. I never missed a practice unless I was in the hospital."
At one point, Todd said a local man named Chris contacted him. Chris had heard about Todd's story and wanted to donate his kidney to Todd. Todd said they weren't a match, but Chris went through with the donation anyway.
"That restored my faith in humanity," Todd said.
Through the rough days, Todd never let his illness define him. He said it always comes down to mental toughness.
"Yeah, there were days where I felt bad and I was like, 'Poor me,' and like, 'Why did this have to happen to me?' And then I would just shake my head and be like, 'Todd there's people that are way worse off than you are, why are you complaining?'" Dostie said. "Your mind is so strong. If you let things creep into your mind, you're going to be negative. If you can just take the negativity out and stay positive, good things are going to happen."
The years came and went. Then, just before Christmas 2022, Todd received a call from his doctors letting him know they had found a match. The surgery was scheduled for Dec. 29, 2022, exactly 30 years after his first surgery was performed. Todd said he knew in that moment it was meant to be.
He said his doctors called it a Christmas miracle.
"There was a lot of crying after that, I tell you, when I found out," Dostie said.
"To be, for so long, on dialysis and to not really lose hope and keep taking care of himself so that he would be a candidate. I think that's pretty inspiring," Whiting said.
It's been more than 12 weeks since Todd received his new kidney. He is feeling stronger every day and is keeping his eyes on the future. That includes a trip to Alaska, something he has been talking about doing for years.
"My mind is telling me I can do all the stuff but my body is saying, 'No, Todd, you can barely walk to your car right now. You've been on dialysis for 23 years all your muscles are atrophied. You're not in shape. You need to work yourself up before you can go run and do stuff,'" Dostie said. "But I am ready to go. I am ready to go."
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