The Beat Goes On for Bill Wilson

Bill Wilson isn’t one to just watch the parade. He leads it. Residents of Wilmington, Delaware, are used to seeing Wilson, a drum major, lead celebrations from parades to barbecues to birthdays. But the last few years haven’t exactly been a party for him.

On the national list for a kidney transplant, Wilson waited patiently. Then, in April, he learned he would become the first HIV-positive patient at ChristianaCare to receive a kidney transplant. “After a year-and-a-half, it was just amazing the day it happened,” he said. “And you also can’t help but feel for all the other people who go through it.”

He still recalls praying with his brother, who is a bishop, and even with one of the nurses, who is also a pastor, before his procedure. “Faith is a big part of my life,” he said. “It gets me through and helped get me through this.” Wilson, who characterizes himself as a big people person, remembers how many times he would need to be alone after three-days-a-week, four-hours-a-session dialysis treatments.

“I would sometimes lose a bit of my personality,” he said. “I didn’t want to see anybody sometimes. That’s not me. I’m the person who says to someone I barely know, ‘Pull up a chair.’ I love people!” Now after the transplant, performed by Jason Rolls, M.D., Wilson could end his dialysis treatments. “The ChristianaCare team from the coordinator to those in the surgery – everybody -- made me feel so comfortable and confident through this process,” he said. “They really cared for me and were behind me.”

Peter Burke, D.O., medical director of the Kidney Transplant and Living Donor programs, believes Wilson's surgery will be the first of many HIV-positive patients in need of a kidney transplant who will get one through ChristianaCare.

“The transplant team does have areas to consider when it’s an HIV-positive patient, but we are prepared,” he said. “With HIV, the chance for transplant rejection is higher so we need to be more aggressive against immunosuppression. To fight immunodeficiency, for example, the count for CD4, a type of white blood cell, must be above a certain threshold. The Infectious Disease team is also watching carefully for reactions with medications. These are just a few things that are focused on.” Also, beyond the transplant team effort, the patient's adherence to their medication is vital. Burke said Wilson is a model patient in this way and more.

“He has worked so hard in terms of following procedure and still did after the surgery,” Burke said. “He’s an outstanding individual and patient and I’m so happy for him … This is why we wake up and do what we do. We want to help people get their lives back on track.”

After spending around 20 years working with children in roles from teacher assistant to bus assistant, it is Wilson who now feels a bit like a kid again. “I’m 51 and I’m young,” he said. “I’m feeling younger after this transplant than I have in years. There were times when I couldn’t lead the parades but now it’s a different story. I live for being a part of moments of joy. Let’s make some people smile.”

He wants to return to an active life in high style -- with a suit and tie. “As I’m on a new chapter, I’m realizing how much I like getting dressed up and looking good,” he laughed. “I see myself looking my best. And now how I’m feeling can really match it!”