Conroe couple overcome odds with transplant
In an unprecedented year, Michael and Kris McBride made some history of their own.
Michael, who suffered a stroke in 2014, was in desperate need of a kidney. His wife, Kris, a Conroebased CPA, was a match. But their journey has been filled with obstacles as they faced one setback after another.
Michael had already faced a major setback in 2018 when their hopes were dashed because he needed a triple bypass as they approached the surgery date. He recovered and the transplant was on again in June 2019. But a discovery of breast cancer in Kris three weeks out from the transplant surgery nearly made the donation impossible. They were told the “C” on her chart ended her chances of donating.
But she never gave up hope, and even through her own obstacles and recovery, she never gave up championing for Michael. Their transplant doctor never gave up hope either.
And on May 29, they made medical history. Michael received his new kidney from Kris after teams of doctors in the Houston Methodist system made an unprecedented decision that she could go forward with the surgery following her breast cancer recovery.
Now the couple of 25 years is relishing life as they close a chapter of their life that brought one knockdown after another.
To donate her kidney, Kris first had to get her health in order. First she had to lose weight. She ended up losing 60 pounds through the Weight Management program at Houston Methodist.
Things were rolling ahead for Michael, too. Then in late 2018 as he was preparing for the transplant and checking off the list of things needed before surgery, it was discovered that he needed a triple bypass.
Their hopes still weren’t dashed. He could recover and they could try again.
By June 2019, Michael was strong enough to try again for the transplant surgery.
Again, Kris was checking off her boxes to prep for the transplant. A mammogram in May 2019 was a part of the prep. At that point they were three weeks out from this second attempt at the transplant.
“I never thought a thing of it. I had no history in my family, no symptoms, no tenderness,” she said. “My brain was completely on Michael and getting this kidney taken care of.”
Less than two weeks later, they scheduled a biopsy.
“By then I was starting to get a little scared,” she said. “My gut is saying this is not good.”
Days later, Dr. Magda Ghobashy confirmed she had stage 1 breast cancer.
“I knew I was really lucky to catch it early, she said. “If it weren’t for other things going on in my life, I probably wouldn’t have gone for a mammogram.”
But the cancer, even though it was the size of a pea, kept her from donating a kidney to Michael.
In July of that year, she underwent a lumpectomy.
She recovered from the surgery for six weeks and then started radiation.
When she did her sixmonth follow-up in January, Dr. Priya Ramshesh, medical director of Houston Methodist The Woodlands Infusion Center, told her, “I don’t see any reason why you can’t do this.”
The transplant team met with her breast cancer team and they reached the same conclusion.
By March, the coronavirus pandemic began and the hospital stopped doing transplant operations that involved live donors. Again checking off her todo list, Kris had to have a COVID-19 test. It came back positive even though she had no symptoms.
She quarantined for two weeks and finally on May 29 their transplant surgery took place.
Michael had a couple minor setbacks with infections over the summer, but both are happy to have this medical roller coaster behind them.
Now Kris is encouraging mammograms and early detection now more than ever as some women may consider delaying their mammogram due to COVID-19.
“Without early detection, it wouldn’t have happened,” she said. “That’s the lesson over and over again.”