DAVISON, MI -- They were the words Monica Towns wasn't expecting -- she had end-stage renal disease and her best shot would be dialysis and a kidney transplant.
Luckily for the 21-year-old Davison woman, her fiance, Jacob Pierson, 25 of Phoenix, Ariz., was not only a match for a kidney transplant, but he was her perfect match.
"Once we found out he was a match, they went a step further and said, 'Not only are you a match, but you're a perfect match.'" Towns said. "I guess there is something with our blood types that you don't see in everyone and we both have this. It was nice to hear not only were we a match, but we were a perfect match."
The couple went in for the surgery at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak on Dec. 23, a date Towns said they chose because on that day in 1954 the first successful kidney transplant was performed. She and Pierson were released from the hospital just three days later.
Before she started feeling ill just before May 29, Towns said she thought she was relatively healthy, with school and work part of her normal daily routine. She said one day she came home and she wasn't feeling well.
"My stomach hurt and I started kind of getting sick. The pain just got worse, so I went on May 29 to McLaren Hospital. They found out I was in kidney failure," Towns said. "They thought they could jump-start my kidneys by putting some fluid in me. So they ended up putting about 65 pounds of fluid in me and that did not work. I ended up getting a 'permacath,' which is how I would hook up to do hemodialysis and that started June 1 of this year."
Towns found out she had renal artery stenosis, which is the narrowing of one or both of the renal arteries. The narrowing of the artery can cut off blood flow to the kidney.
"It was obviously sudden. I don't have anything prior. Some people are diabetic or have hypertension, and that wasn't the case for me," Towns said. "What they called it was renal artery stenosis. I actually had a blood clot and it wasn't able to pass through, so the lack of oxygen is how it damaged my kidneys."
The hemodialysis was hard on Towns as she was sick and passing out most of the time. She said once she switched to the peritoneal dialysis she felt much better and was able to complete school. She graduated from the University of Michigan-Flint Dec. 20.
Pierson said doctors tested Towns' sisters and they weren't a match. He said he was next in line and he was eager to do what he could to help his fiance.
"I was the next one to get tested and I was a direct match," Pierson said. "They said I was a really good candidate. Then they went ahead and did the surgery."
The Davison native said it meant the world to him to be able to help his fiance.
"It was awesome," Pierson said. "It was a blessing I was able to be the person to do it."
End-stage renal disease isn't curable even with the transplant, Towns said, but it will give her a chance to go back to a normal life. She said she faces months of recovery.
"I'll be able to work again," Towns said. "The recovery is definitely going to be long. For three months, things are going to be hard. The first month I will have round-the-clock care from my mom, which is great because she has been the person I have been able to lean on throughout this whole thing, aside from Jake."
Towns said her fiance is an amazing person and appreciates what he has done to help her through this time in her life.
"To have Jake be able to go through a couple weeks of pain and give up and organ for me -- it's completely selfless." Towns said. "He's just an amazing person and I'm lucky to have him."
Pierson said he will be staying in Davison with family while he recuperates. He said he is looking at about two weeks before he is at 80 percent, but then he plans on going back to work.
Towns said she is changing her lifestyle to make sure she stays healthy. She said she will be on medications for the rest of her life.
"A lot of things will be different, but this is the best way for me to have a normal and healthy life," Towns said. "I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful fiance who would do this for me. He has just been on board for whatever he needed to do. I think him and my mom have definitely been the best people for this. He's the one helping me get better, and she's the one taking care of me."
Once Towns is healed, she said she plans to move to Phoenix and is hoping that will be at the end of March. She said they are hoping to start planning a wedding for sometime in October.
Amanda Emery is a police reporter for MLive-Flint Journal. Contact her at aemery@mlive.com or 810-285-0792. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.