It’s been 10 months since Roxanne Johnson-Yates received her second kidney transplant. Now she looks back on a life that was at times uncertain.
By IU Health Senior Journalist, TJ Banes, tfender1@iuhealth.org
As she spoke, Roxanne Johnson-Yates busied herself in the kitchen preparing what she calls “a simple meal.” Whether she’s cooking a spaghetti dinner or swinging through the trees, Yates accepts the big and small things in life.
She doesn’t take anything for granted. This is a woman who has undergone not one but two life-saving kidney transplants at IU Health.
The first transplant took place on August 6, 2010. Her organ donor was a woman – a recent university graduate and later her daughter-in-law. The second time is on March 23, 2022.
A mother of a daughter and two sons, Yates initially came to the emergency room with symptoms of strep throat. Urine tests showed high levels of protein and she was eventually diagnosed with glomerulosclerosis, a scar in the filtering part of the kidney. She had been on dialysis for 10 years before receiving the transplant. At one point, her body started to reject the new kidney and she was hospitalized for six weeks. When that kidney started working, she lived a healthy life for 11 years.
“I was lucky enough to see not one but two grandchildren born and my only daughter getting married. I told the kids I wasn’t going back on dialysis, but my daughter reminded me of everything I’ve been through,” Yates said. This time she was on hemodialysis for a year when she ended up in the ER.
“I had chest pain and my creatinine level was higher than 7. Yates, who was second assigned to Dr. William Goggins of IU Health, said. “He said by the end of the summer I would need a transplant. It was March and I got the call a week later.”
A lifelong resident of Indianapolis, Yates graduated from Crispus Attucks High School. At the age of 16, she became pregnant with her first child. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 2008. By 2012, Yates and her adult children went through a divorce. Three years later, she earned a master’s degree in applied science. She has spent her career working in social services and currently serves as a family and engagement specialist for Indianapolis Public Schools.
It was during her master’s degree ceremony that she reconnected with a friend from high school, Michael Johnson. “He was getting his bachelor’s degree and jumped in line with me. We sat together and talked throughout the ceremony. We have been together ever since.”
“I have learned not to miss any stones. I feel better and I need to live my life to the fullest,” said Yates, who calls himself a “do-it-yourself demon.” She and Johnson went ziplining and were planning to go scuba diving. She also enjoys attending Cathedral High School basketball games where her son is the coach and her grandson plays on the team.
“We call ourselves ‘strong family’ because we are where we are now because we did it together. We go on vacation together, plan family game night once a month, and we never miss a vacation.”
