Participants:
Series Code: LTBW
Program Code: LTBW190041S
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00:49 Hi, I'm Dr. Kim Logan-Nowlan and welcome to Live to Be Well. 00:53 What is Live To Be Well all about? Mind, body and soul but 00:58 a connection to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Today I 01:02 want to welcome Jelani Grady. Welcome Jelani. How are you? 01:05 I'm doing well. Thanks for having me. 01:07 Oh, you're very welcome. I'm excited because we're going to 01:10 talk about restored by faith. Yes. Well, I'm just going to let 01:14 you talk about what God has done for you. Tell us your journey. 01:18 Sure. Well you know when I was young I was probably around 01:22 three years old my parents have pictures of me preaching from 01:27 the word of God, just preaching very hard and telling people 01:32 about Jesus. I was about two or three years old. And I remember 01:36 at an early age then God really spoke to me and wanted me to be 01:40 in the ministry or to have influence, a positive influence 01:43 over people. But you know growing up I had the wonderful 01:48 parents, Dorothy and Ed Grady, beautiful people. I love my 01:52 parents. I remember them teaching me all about the love 01:56 of God and I had a true love for God and my passion was to serve 02:01 him. But as you get older you start to have influences on you 02:06 and the decisions start to have to be made of which way you're 02:09 going to go. And I remember that I wouldn't completely commit my 02:14 talents and my love for God. I would have one foot in the 02:18 church, you hear that saying, and one foot out. I would 02:22 contribute with music and things like this but I didn't 02:25 necessarily give 100 percent of my talents to God. So I remember 02:30 I went to Great Lakes Adventist Academy, a boarding school, and 02:35 I remember it was my senior year and it was almost two months 02:39 before graduation. I was to graduate and I remember that I 02:43 started to feel funny. I didn't start to feel well. And I 02:47 remember that I started to get real tired. I was a really good 02:51 athlete. I was 18 years old. I was in the prime of my life and 02:56 I used to play basketball, you know, flying up and down the 02:58 court. And I would just love basketball and athletics and I 03:02 remember that I went down the court one time and I had to come 03:06 out of the game and sit down. And I remember I couldn't catch 03:10 my breath and I knew something wasn't quite right. And I 03:13 remember that I started to get really fatigued during the week. 03:19 I didn't have a lot of strength to move things around and I 03:22 would sleep a lot. And I started to itch all over my body, just 03:27 started to itch, itch, itch. Even in my sleep I was 03:30 scratching, my roommate said. I remember going to the nursing 03:33 staff and they said, Well we can't really figure out what's 03:36 going on with you but we gave you some anti-itch medicine, see 03:40 if that would help. Eventually that died down but I started to 03:44 just get so fatigued I really couldn't go about my day without 03:49 having to go and sleep and rest. And so I phoned home and I 03:53 called my parents and I said, Listen, you know, I really don't 03:56 feel well and I started to explain my symptoms to them and 03:59 they said, Well see if you can make it to graduation and we'll 04:02 deal with it when you get back home. They really didn't know 04:06 how serious it was at the time. And I didn't even know. Nobody 04:09 really understood what was going on. So I remember graduation 04:14 came and my parents came up to Great Lakes. It was a weekend so 04:18 they arrived on Friday. So I was supposed to have all my things 04:21 packed away and packed up and all of my books and all of the 04:26 things to go back home. But I remember I couldn't do it. 04:29 Didn't have the strength. And when they came into the room 04:32 and they saw all of my things not packed, they said, Son why 04:35 didn't you pack your clothes. You know, we're leaving on 04:38 Sunday. And then they saw my condition and they saw that I 04:42 had lost weight and they saw that I didn't have the energy 04:45 and they were really worried at that time. I could just see it 04:48 on their faces. I remember after graduation came that Sunday we 04:52 were ready to leave and someone had to help pack my things in 04:56 the car. And I remember sleeping all the way home. They had to 05:00 physically wake me up to get me out of the car. So they knew 05:04 something was seriously wrong. So I found myself at the 05:06 doctor's that very next day. And I remember coming home after 05:11 they took blood work and these things and probably about two 05:14 hours later we get a phone call saying you need to come back and 05:18 you need to go to the hospital there's something wrong with 05:21 your creatinine. Well I had never heard of that before, I 05:24 didn't know what that was. My parents didn't know what it was. 05:26 Come to find out that it's what measures your kidney function, 05:31 how good you kidneys were functioning. Well my levels were 05:35 high. So I came back to the doctor's. They explained to me, 05:40 they said listen, Your son's creatinine is elevated and we're 05:44 going to need to do a biopsy of both his kidneys to see what's 05:50 causing this level to rise. So I remember going in and then 05:54 having a biopsy done. And the report comes back and 05:58 fortunately your son has a kidney disease and not just one 06:01 kidney, but both of them. 06:03 Both kidneys? 06:04 Both kidneys. So I'm in the prime of my life, just graduated 06:07 high school, was ready to go to college. But now this health 06:11 crisis is now presented. And so my whole life is put on hold. 06:16 I remember they're saying listen we're going to try to stop the 06:19 damage that's being caused. So they said you need to come and 06:23 get this intravenous medication called prednisone. Now I don't 06:28 you've ever known prednisone. Have you ever heard of it. 06:31 I've heard of it. 06:32 It is probably one of the worst medications that I've ever been 06:36 on. And at that time they gave it to you intravenously, but 06:40 you're supposed to take it in pill form. But they were trying 06:43 to stop the damage that was being done to my kidneys. So I 06:47 remember taking it intravenously and I was real sick. You know, 06:51 it was almost like a chemo reaction like to a chemo drug. 06:54 I was getting nauseous and ready to vomit and these things. And I 06:59 had to do that for two weeks. So at the end of that thing 07:02 they were like you need to go on medication. We're going to keep 07:05 you on this medication for a whole year. And so prednisone 07:09 gives you mood swings, it makes you gain weight, you get hunger 07:15 like you get so hungry that you almost lose your mind. I mean 07:19 this is what I was going through 07:21 Side effects. 07:22 Side effects are just awful but the end of this thing at the 07:26 year my mother was like listen he's got to come off of this 07:29 medication. It literally was changing my personality. That's 07:32 how bad it was. Wow! So I remember telling her I don't 07:35 care what happens, I got to get off this stuff. I can't live 07:38 like this. So going to the doctor, he said Listen, we're 07:42 going to give you... the rate that your kidneys are being 07:46 damaged you only probably have about two years, before you 07:49 have to be on dialysis and have a transplant. So I remember my 07:52 mother looking at the doctor and telling him, You know I 07:56 understand your timeline, but we're Christians and we believe 07:59 in God's timeline. And I remember he chuckled and to this 08:03 day he chuckles at my mom and said, You know, I understand all 08:06 that but you know we're the doctors and this is the timeline 08:09 we're giving him. So we left that office expecting that this 08:15 thing would happen in two years. But my mother was a praying 08:18 mother and so she was praying over my life and she said, I 08:21 don't believe that this is the case for my son. So I remember 08:26 that each year went by. So year one goes by, year two goes by, 08:30 three, four, five, 21 years goes by and my kidneys do not 08:36 fail like that doctor said that it would in two years. So during 08:41 this time God is really trying to speak to me saying I need you 08:46 to work with me. I need you to work for the kingdom, I need you 08:50 to give 100 percent to me. And so still unwilling to do it, 08:56 still fighting him on this thing And so I remember in 2013, my 09:02 son was three months old and I remember that we had to take my 09:05 daughter to a doctor's appointment. And I remember we 09:08 were on the way. I remember that day it snowed really bad. So we 09:12 were on the way to my daughter's doctor's appointment and 09:16 something came over to me where I felt like I was going to die. 09:19 And I remember telling my wife I need to go to the ER 09:24 immediately. So she turned the car around and headed straight 09:28 to the emergency room. So when I arrived the doctors came in and 09:32 they took blood work. A person's kidney function, the normal 09:35 kidney function is 0.6- 1.0. Mine was at 11. And so I was in 09:43 serious trouble and I needed dialysis right away. I remember 09:46 being in the hospital for a month... 09:50 From that day going to the emergency room? 09:52 From the emergency room I was in the hospital for a month. And I 09:55 remember that they had placed a port into my side, into what 10:00 they call it peritoneal where they would use this machine 10:04 to give me dialysis and it would fill my stomach up with fluid 10:09 and then it would drain it off and I would be on this machine 10:13 for six to eight hours at night. So this started my journey into 10:18 being on dialysis. So, mind you, my son is three months 10:24 and I have four children. So my wife has to continue now, she 10:29 has a sick husband and she has four children she has to take 10:32 care of and one is a newborn. And so the stress on her was 10:37 tremendous. I remember that being sick is probably one of 10:43 hardest things for a spouse to deal with because not only do 10:46 they have to still function but they may have to deal with the 10:51 spouse and help them to be healthy and take care of them as 10:55 well. So that True in sickness and in health came to play in 10:59 our marriage. So I remember at that time, I was fighting God 11:04 on doing the things that he wanted me to do all this time 11:07 21 years of talking to me, pleading with me to give 11:11 everything. So do you think I was ready to listen now? No. 11:14 Oh I was. I was ready at this time now. I'm in trouble. Now 11:21 I'm sick, now I'm near death. You know now these things are... 11:24 And I'm like, Oh my goodness. I hear you God, I'm ready now. 11:27 So a severe wake up call. 11:29 My goodness, I was then now ready to work for him. And I 11:32 remember going to my pastor, Pastor Ariel, and I remember 11:36 going to him, sitting in front of him. I'm like listen. I 11:38 remember grabbing his hands. I'm like I need to do something. 11:41 I gotta work for God now! I have to do something, my life is in 11:45 trouble. I don't know how much time I have on this earth, but 11:48 one thing I have got to do what God has asked me to do for so 11:52 so long now. I have got to do it now! So I remember him giving me 11:57 a Bible study to do. My first Bible study was a terminally ill 12:01 man. Can you believe that? A terminally ill man. So I 12:05 remember working with this man and eventually he accepted Jesus 12:09 Christ right before he passed away... 12:10 Oh wow, Praise the Lord! 12:12 Now this is my first experience into ministry. From then on I 12:15 began to give Bible studies and then I stepped into being a 12:18 deacon, then I became an elder, and I began to preach and to do 12:22 all those things and motivating people to give their heart to 12:25 Jesus Christ. So meanwhile I'm still on dialysis. 12:30 The peritoneal dialysis stopped working [Oh No!] and I had to go 12:33 into the hospital. I was in and out of the hospital. I couldn't 12:37 stay out. I was starting to get sicker and sicker so I remember 12:39 a doctor finally coming into my room and she said, listen, we 12:43 know you want to do the peritoneal dialysis, it's easier 12:46 for you but we think you need to switch to hemodialysis. Now 12:50 that's where they cycle your blood through the machine. [Ya] 12:53 And they put this thing in your arm, a port in your arm, and 12:58 this is what happens and they cycle your blood through and 13:01 that's called hemodialysis. And so I had to then switch to that. 13:06 Now that is very draining and I had to do that three times a 13:11 week. Now I was working three 12s at the time. And I remember 13:16 when I started that treatment I was unable to continue to work 13:20 so I remember going on disability. And I remember my 13:23 energy level was just awful. Like I would after... Treatment 13:28 would be probably around three-and-a-half hours. After 13:30 treatment I would come home and I would sleep for about five 13:34 hours and get up and start walking around again but still 13:37 laying around. The next day getting my energy back but then 13:41 having to do the cycle all over again. And so this continued for 13:45 two-and-a-half years. I remember at the end of the 13:48 two-and-a-half years I'm just like man I need to get a 13:51 transplant. I said, I can't live like this anymore. I remember 13:55 that I started getting anxiety when I was on the machine. 13:58 I started at the end of my treatment almost like I was 14:01 gonna go crazy. Things started to happen and I was like 14:04 starting to get discouraged. So I remember I said, Boy I need to 14:08 get a transplant. And just to be clear you're considered terminal 14:14 until you get the cure, which is a kidney transplant [Wow] And so 14:18 I was living like this for two- and-a-half years. So finally I 14:21 said, Boy I wonder if I could reach out to someone and maybe 14:26 they can donate to me. And I remember putting it on Facebook. 14:29 And I remember going in front of the church. People were saying 14:33 you know I needed help with a kidney transplant. And I 14:37 remember that approximately six people tried to donate. 14:41 You could donate anonymously. You can go get your blood tested 14:47 to see if you're a match with the person... 14:49 Okay let me ask you a question. Sorry to interrupt. 14:52 No, you're good. 14:53 You were on the donors' list at the hospital? 14:56 I was. I was on the donors' list 14:57 But nothing was coming in. 14:59 Well it's what happens is that I have O positive blood type and 15:04 so that's considered a rare blood type and so you're on the 15:09 list but the chances of you getting a kidney for O positive 15:13 was going to be very difficult and the timeline for that was 15:17 eight to ten years before I would get what they call a 15:20 cadaver meaning that someone would have to pass away before 15:24 I would be able to get the kidney. So what they encourage 15:27 you to do is not only get on the list but to look for a live 15:30 donor, someone who can give you a kidney. Some people may... 15:37 some people don't understand that you can live a normal life 15:41 with just one kidney. People are born with one kidney. And so 15:45 live donors are your best option sometimes just because your 15:49 kidney functions better. Coming to find out that in my situation 15:55 I was really sick and I needed to have a kidney to be able... 15:59 Because dialysis is not the cure Remember that's only keeping you 16:04 alive and assisting you to clean your blood, but that's not the 16:06 cure. Having an actual transplant or a healthy kidney 16:10 is what is the cure. So I remember then reaching out to my 16:15 best friend. He just came into my mind. I'm like why don't I 16:18 ask my best friend and see if he would get tested. And so I 16:22 remember I called him up and he was living in Cleveland. 16:25 His name is Zack Mattox. And I have to give him a shout-out. 16:30 He is so... he doesn't like the attention and all that stuff but 16:33 I will say his name over and over again, Zack Mattox. 16:36 Osachwai Mattox is his real name But he was living in Cleveland 16:43 at the time. So I remember calling him and saying, Hey do 16:47 you think you could donate or try to get tested and see if a 16:51 match that you can help. Because I was literally so sick... 16:53 Now this is not like asking somebody, Can I borrow your car? 16:56 You're asking for someone's kidney! 16:59 And remember now you're literally needed a lifesaving 17:03 measure here. 17:05 And you didn't know what... Did you know his blood type? 17:07 I did not. 17:08 That's why you wanted him tested [That's right] All right go on. 17:10 He never hesitated, never hesitated. He said Absolutely. 17:13 Meanwhile he has a family. He has three children and a wife 17:18 and he never hesitated. And I remember there's four cycles 17:21 that you have to pass in order to be a healthy donor. You have 17:25 to be healthy, one. [Be healthy] You have to be healthy. Then you 17:29 have to make sure that your kidney is functional meaning 17:34 that there's no defects or anything like that. So they have 17:37 to do an ultrasound. And then you have to see if your heart 17:40 is healthy and strong. You have to do an EKG. And the next thing 17:44 you need to know, Is your blood compatible with the other 17:48 person's blood type. So I remember he started the process. 17:52 And he would text me. Passed stage 1. I'm not really excited 17:59 this time because you know it's the beginning. So we don't even 18:02 know if he's going to be the same blood type. And I remember 18:04 he texted me again, Passed stage 2. I'm like wow this is really 18:10 happening. [All right] Texted me again a couple weeks later, 18:14 passed stage 3. So I'm like oh my goodness there's only one 18:17 stage left. [Yes] So this is where they see if you're the 18:21 correct blood type. And I remember he texted me the last 18:25 stage, he said, I am a complete match! I passed stage 4. 18:28 And I tell you, a just unbelievable feeling of just 18:33 being so sick and now I have the possibility to be healthy 18:36 again. I just couldn't contain myself. I remember weeping on 18:39 the side of my bed, just incredible tears because I was 18:42 like wow! Being sick for so long having this issue from 18 and 18:47 for 21 years now I've been struggling with this thing and 18:51 to think that I could possibly have a cure. And I remember that 18:56 he called and he said, Man, I did it man, I did it. And I 19:01 remember that his wife was going through nursing school. She was 19:04 actually a nurse but she was going through NPR, nurse 19:08 practitioner school. So I did not want them to stop that 19:11 process until she was finished. Because she was in the school 19:14 and you know if you come out of the program it's very difficult 19:17 to get back in to where you were I said listen don't worry about 19:21 that. Let her finish. Six months later on June 22nd, 2016 we went 19:28 and had the transplant surgery and I just celebrated my third 19:32 year anniversary June 22nd of this year. 19:35 Praise the Lord. Oh I'm glad... (Indistinct) 19:37 And he's doing wonderful! 19:39 He's doing wonderful! 19:41 His wife is well? 19:42 She's doing great. 19:44 The Lord is good. [Yes he is] And you're feeling well? 19:47 Listen, I promise you the energy that I have. The amazing... From 19:55 age 18 I never had the same energy. I was always tired. 19:59 But now I don't get tired anymore. I'm able to run around 20:02 with my children. I'm able to do things that I could not do 20:05 before. And I'm in wonderful health. My labs are doing great 20:09 and the blessing that God has... And he didn't just save me. 20:14 I tell people... I did a sermon and I called it Saved to Serve. 20:17 [Come on now] He didn't save me just so I could be here and 20:21 enjoy life. He saved me so I can serve someone else. [Yes!] 20:25 And my family taking care of them and then taking care of 20:28 others who don't know Jesus Christ. That was the purpose and 20:31 that's the reason why he saved me and so from henceforth until 20:36 I die I'm going to be sharing the love of Jesus Christ with 20:39 anyone I can and encourage them to have a relationship with 20:42 Jesus Christ. 20:44 So Saved to Serve. I have to write that down. Saved to Serve. 20:48 I can only say that truly God is in your life. You were born and 20:54 raised Seventh-day Adventist? [Yes, yes ma'am] and you are 20:57 a member of the Oakwood Seventh- day Adventist Church? [I am] 20:59 And this is where you are a deacon? [I'm an elder] You're an 21:02 elder. Elder Grady. [Yeah] Thank you. And serving God. 21:07 How many children do you have? 21:10 I have four children. My oldest is 19, her name is Hannah. 21:15 And I have a 10-year-old, her name is Halani. Then I have a 21:19 seven-year-old, her name is Hadassah and my son, finally got 21:24 a son in there, is five years old and his name is Josiah. 21:28 Josiah. When you think about your dear friend... Were you 21:32 classmates? 21:33 This is a great... I'm glad you asked that question. It's funny. 21:36 Back when a teenager his family moved from New York to Michigan, 21:42 all of a sudden they moved there and I was actually visiting 21:46 Oakwood Church, I didn't go to that church back then, but I was 21:49 actually visiting that church and he had just moved there 21:53 and his family was visiting that church. And I remember I met him 21:56 in the hallway and something told me to go up to him, now I 22:00 know it's the Holy Spirit, but something told me to go up to 22:04 to him. So when I went up to him I said, Hey man my name is 22:06 Jelani. Hey my name is Zack. We were teenagers so we were 22:09 talking all ridiculous. But then I was like, Hey what are you 22:13 doing here? He said, Hey man I just moved here. And from that 22:17 moment on we were inseparable. [What?] And we spent summer 22:22 after summer, we became so close And he remembered when I was 22:27 diagnosed. He was there. He remembered when I was diagnosed. 22:30 And to think 21 years later he's the one that saved my life. 22:34 It's just amazing what God did. Just amazing. 22:37 Why do you love life now? 22:41 You know, when you're sick and when you have something that 22:48 is debilitating you start to lose focus and the devil uses 22:52 those things to discourage and now looking back on it and I 22:58 see where I was to where I am now and all of the vigor of life 23:03 that I have and all of the time that I get to spend with my 23:08 children where I'm healthy and I'm strong, all those things, 23:12 they matter now more than ever. So each second I get, each week 23:18 I get, each month I get, each year I get it's just amazing. 23:23 I meet so many people, but men who get frustrated when they 23:29 spend time with their children or I need my ME time. Now we all 23:34 need our me time. Or they're spending time doing things that 23:40 is not pleasing to the Lord and some are bound by sin. And I 23:45 hear you say that because of your relationship... You see 23:49 people don't understand, it's not just attending church but 23:53 it's a relationship. It's not just being married, it's a 23:56 relationship. It's not just what I'm doing with Live to be Well 24:01 but it's a relationship with the 3ABN Dare to Dream Network. 24:04 It's a relationship that I have with Jason Bradley, my program 24:08 director. It's that relationship that I have with my family. 24:11 So you have to put the time in. So you value being a husband? 24:17 [Right] And value being a father? A servant in your church 24:21 Now are there any restrictions at all with your health? 24:25 You know, the Seventh-day Adventist church has a great 24:27 health message and I believe that the reason why I was able 24:32 to last so long as well is because I took care of myself. 24:35 And I believe that I exercised and I did those things but also 24:39 the restrictions I place on myself now is that I still have 24:43 to be proactive with my health. [Yeah] Even more so now because 24:47 I have something so precious. So working out, eating right, 24:50 getting rest and drinking your water, all those things that we 24:54 teach and preach that has to be lived even when you have the 24:59 cure. You still have to monitor your health. You still have to 25:02 be very careful and calculated when you're dealing with your 25:05 health. 25:07 So even though we know there are other people who believe in 25:10 the word of God, they believe that Jesus is coming again but 25:14 they put things in their bodies. So you're saying you stay away 25:17 from tobacco [Yeah], you stay away from alcohol, you stay away 25:21 from anything that could bring harm to your body, your kidney. 25:25 One hundred percent, and there's also medications, they're called 25:29 antirejection medications that you have to take and that you 25:34 have to be faithful with. But alcohol and smoking and those 25:39 type of things would literally destroy your kidney. And so 25:43 before that, I believe I lasted for 21 years because I didn't 25:47 engage in those things. 25:48 All those you did before. 25:50 Absolutely 100 percent. And even afterward to be healthy and 25:53 keep your kidney functioning. You have to be very vigilant 25:57 when dealing with your health. And those things such as smoking 26:00 and drinking or alcohol abuse, all those will absolutely kill 26:04 your kidney. 26:06 And your organs, it takes its toll. They said to me the reason 26:09 I was able to get through my breast cancer so quickly and 26:11 radiation because I did not consume substances in my body. 26:17 [100 percent] and 100 percent. You want to thank somebody. Who 26:21 is it that you want to thank? 26:22 You know, first of all, I want to thank God for never giving up 26:25 on me. That's first of all. God was so patient and he was so 26:31 loving and so kind. You know the verse, Yea though I walk through 26:35 the valley of the shadow of death, you know, I literally was 26:38 walking that path. But God said son, you'll have to go through 26:42 these things. You may have to have these issues and problems. 26:46 But I'll be there right with you. So I just wanted to thank 26:49 my best friend as well. If he had not been willing and if he 26:53 didn't know God, if he had not been willing to sacrifice... The 26:57 Bible says that greater love hath no man than this, that he 27:02 lay down his life for his friend He was willing to risk his 27:07 health and well-being to save mine. What an example. What did 27:11 Jesus do for us? 27:13 He laid down his life. 27:14 He laid down his life that we might live. That's what my best 27:17 friend really did for me. 27:18 And the organization, real quickly. 27:20 National Kidney Foundation. You can get all the information on 27:24 that website if you want to look into that. Also on your license 27:29 there's a box in behind there that you can check to be a 27:32 donor and literally you can save someone's life. I'm a living 27:36 witness. Someone invested in me and here today because someone 27:39 chose to donate their kidney to me and I'm now living. 27:43 Let me say Jelani we're so happy that you are alive. And we thank 27:47 you for being a part of the Dare to Dream Network, the 27:50 family. And I thank God for the vision. Let's be a donor because 27:55 it could be you or I next time. God has a reason for us to live 28:00 and that is to live to be well so that we'll be a blessing. 28:04 I'm Dr. Kim Logan-Nowlan and remember Live To Be Well. 28:08 God bless. 28:09 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2021-09-21