College Teammates Form Transplant Team

Oct 17, 2008 6:12 am US/Mountain

College Teammates Form Transplant Team

Written By Brooke Wagner

DENVER (CBS4) ― Two college friends, separated by hundreds of miles, were brought closer than ever by organ donation. Jim Steinberg and Ryan Justis played baseball together at Cornell College in Iowa. These young men had no idea they were destined to become brothers.

"It was a tremendous friendship first, and this just sort of takes that one notch up," said Justis.

In 2002, Steinberg had just finished law school and was starting his first job as an attorney in Des Moines, Iowa. He didn't feel like himself.

"It started with fatigue, constant feeling of thirst, so I went to the doctors' office a couple of times," said Steinberg. It wasn't long before he was in the emergency room.

"This doctor was in his mid 50s and he said, 'that's in the top five blood pressures I've seen in patients who didn't stroke out or die,'" said Steinberg.

The 26-year-old was put on dialysis just before Christmas.

"I never understood why people get depressed on the holidays, but this was like, 'wow, I'm in bad shape,'" Steinberg said.

Steinberg needed a kidney transplant, but the average wait on the national list is four to six years. Family and friends began to go through testing, but by the following year, there was no viable donor. Steinberg was still spending nine to 12 hours a week on dialysis when he struggled to travel to Colorado for Justis' wedding.

"In the middle of our bliss, it became apparent that he wasn't who he used to be and didn't look the way he used to look," said Justis, "You don't expect a 26-year-old college athlete to be that sick, so it never crossed our mind. We thought we'd get the call one day that he was fine and we'd move forwards."

Steinberg clearly was not fine. So, his old college buddy began the testing process to see if he was a match.

"In my own mind, I wrestled with; I could give a kidney to anyone on the planet. I went down the road of, is this the guy I want to do that one thing for? From the donor's standpoint, it was very unique, being young, newly married, we wrestled with some things. I'm not sure if everybody does, but it became a no brainer pretty quick," Justis said. "Once you meet Jim, all bets are off. He tells his own story about why it's better to have him around than not have him around."

Doctors told Ryan he was compatible.

"(Jim) was in dialysis and I got to tell him I'm a match and we're going to do it," Justis said.

On February 24, 2004, doctors in Des Moines, Iowa, successfully transplanted one of Justis' kidneys to Steinberg.

"It's not some Frankenstein-esque procedure. Anymore, it's a relatively comfortable procedure for the donor," said Justis.

Now, Steinberg said he feels better and stronger than ever. In fact, during his frequent visits to Colorado, Steinberg and Justis re-live some of their glory days with intense games of catch.

"I'm probably feeling the best I've ever felt, even before I got sick. I think getting sick was awful, but I think it's probably almost being blessed by misfortune," said Steinberg. "I'm convinced that I enjoy things more than I would have before the surgery."

To show their commitment to raising transplant awareness, Steinberg and Justis competed together in the Transplant Games in Pittsburgh last summer. Steinberg even brought home a gold medal in the shot-put.

"People confused us for brothers... maybe it was the bickering on the (Games) shuttle bus!" said Steinberg.

The men joked about having a psychic connection, but said they really do share an unusual bond.

"There's a bond between us that's similar, I think, to what twins feel. Neither one of us had facial hair ever and a couple of visits ago, we both showed up with a goatee, never having done it, never having talked about it," said Justis. "We kind of know what each other's thinking and going through having lived that situation."

"I think I've developed a sweet tooth now, I was just meat and potatoes before," joked Steinberg.

Steinberg also got married, following his transplant. The transplant has brought the Steinberg and Justis families together.

"I'm 'Uncle Nim' to his kids, and that's been one of the best things about this is we're literally family now. We come and hang out three or four times a year," said Steinberg.

These two young men decided to share their story to show people the face of living donation. You can learn more through the links on this page.

Related Links

* The Justis Group http://thejustisgroup.com/Community.html
* United Network For Organ Sharing http://www.unos.org/
* Transplant Games http://www.kidney.org/news/tgames/
http://cbs4denver.com/local/Steinberg.Justis.transplant.2.840933.html