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'I'm not going to let them down': St. Louis man without both his kidneys gets 2nd chance at life

Donald Paster had tumors almost the size of footballs in both of his kidneys, but a doctor at Mercy St. Louis saved his life.

ST. LOUIS — One St. Louis man isn't letting any obstacles get in his way, after getting a diagnosis that he thought he wouldn't survive.

A doctor described it as "an extremely unique case, possibly once in a lifetime."

Every three weeks, you can find Donald Paster laughing and smiling at Mercy Hospital South's Cancer Center.

"I think my brain and my body both are doing something different. My brain is saying I’m in my 20’s, my body is saying, 'Hey you’re almost 60. Sit down somewhere.' I’m like, 'No no, I’m not ready to sit down,'" he said.

The energetic 59-year-old found out he had been living with kidney disease for two years in 2016.

While Paster was on the verge of a transplant, the unthinkable happened.

"When somebody tells you, you have cancer, you don’t think of nothing else. You just feel like this is it. You kind of give up immediately because when people say cancer… death," he said.

It wasn't until Paster came to Mercy St. Louis and met with Dr. Gautum Agarwal that he realized he'd have a second chance at life.

Dr. Agarwal said he noticed Paster's zest for life from the start.

"When he came in, what was remarkable, was the first thing I could really tell about him was that he was a guy that wanted to live. To me, in taking care of people for the last seven years or so at Mercy, probably the foremost thing that makes somebody have a good prognosis, honestly, is their desire to live. Their positivity and their support," he said.

Paster had tumors almost the size of footballs in both of his kidneys, according to Dr. Agarwal.

"For him to have these massive football size tumors in both kidneys. I do a lot of surgery, this was the first time I had seen that," he said.

Since no other treatment was going to give Paster the quality of life he wanted, Dr. Agarwal and his team removed both of Paster's kidneys.

"It really is a rare situation to have the surgery that he had and also the type of cancer that he had," he said.

Even though Paster is on dialysis for life, he is healthy and living life just as he wants to by making people laugh, giving back and working on his cars. 

"I see things a whole lot differently, then I did. We take life for granted. We really do, a lot of us do. When you’re dealt your card, you just don’t know, you just kind of freak out and shut down," he said.

Dr. Agarwal described Paster as a "role model for all of his patients."

"I’ve asked him to see if he’s willing to call patients of mine that aren’t having the positivity or having the support. Just to say, 'Hey, I had the worst of the worst, and I made it through, so you can too.' That's why I really feel like it’s important that we kind of champion him, celebrate his life, so maybe he can help others along the way with that," he said.

Paster said a lot of people are rooting for him to make it through this and he's grateful for a second chance to live. 

"I just think it’s a whole bunch of hands out to God that saved me, and people love me and support me, so I’m not going to let them down or myself," he said.

Both Paster and Dr. Agarwal want everyone to learn one main message from his story and that is to listen to your body.

"People get out there and exercise. Get out there and go see your doctors. Catch these illnesses early. If you catch them early you can live, you can survive," Paster said.

Right now, Paster is cancer free. Dr. Agarwal said if that continues, Paster will be eligible for a kidney transplant in two years. 

April is Donate Life Month. You can learn how to be an organ donor and register here.

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