Amy Cheff and Denise Rozman were only just beginning to get to know each other when Amy shared her deepest fear and Denise made a promise that would change both their lives a decade later.
After doctors diagnosed nine-year-old Amy with diabetes, they told her parents she might not live past the age of 40. They were wrong and Amy would go on to celebrate her 40th birthday, being careful to take care of and keep herself as healthy as she could.
But while she quickly learned to live with the ups and downs of diabetes, her biggest fear was that she would lose her kidneys. When she shared that fear with Denise during a meal at Chick-fil-a, after the two met through their church. Denise immediately volunteered to give one of her kidneys to Amy. And though Amy didn’t quite believe her at first, Denise remained adamant.
Denise had always been a supporter of organ donation and fondly recalls when she said “yes” to being an organ donor when she got her driver’s license. Though she never thought she’d donate an organ while still alive, she couldn’t think of any reason not to go through with it, especially for a friend like Amy.
“I have an opportunity to give life to someone and still live,” Denise said, recalling her thoughts from that conversation. “Why in the world wouldn’t I do that?”
A little over a decade after meeting Denise, Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent a bilateral mastectomy and beat the cancer, but the chemotherapy damaged her kidneys, bringing her worst fear to fruition. She began dialysis, and she and Denise began the long process of testing in hopes that Denise would be able to donate a kidney to Amy.
Amy was living her biggest fear as her kidneys continued to fail and they still hadn’t found a match for her or a hospital that would perform the surgery. But she never gave up, even when she really felt like it, and Denise didn’t give up either. They continued to pray, encourage each other, and search.
“It was basically a nightmare,” Amy said. “But she [Denise] was right there with me and she never gave up.”
As it turned out, Denise was a perfect match.
“I remember getting the call from Duke . . . I went and sat on the step and she said ‘well, you’re a perfect match,’” Denise said. “And I just remember the relief that came over me . . . this was going to happen I was going to give Amy a kidney.”
They tried four different hospitals before Wake Forest hospital agreed to take Amy. One surgery later, Amy was given new life. Cancer-free, dialysis-free, she could begin a new phase of her life with a kidney doctors told her was working beautifully.
“It’s really a feeling like no other,” Amy said. “Because you think, ‘I’m well now.’”
Now, Amy and Denise are still close friends, and they continue to share their stories in the hopes of inspiring others to register to give the gift of life.
“I’m just so happy that we met and that our stories intertwined like they did,” Denise said. “We’ll be friends forever.”
“I will always be grateful to Denise and to God,” Amy said. “Because He is the one who orchestrated the whole thing.”