My Stage 5 Kidney Failure Testimony: Lessons Learned and God’s Faithfulness Revealed

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Who This Is For

If you're a go-getter, busybody, people-pleaser, the oldest sibling—or you often feel like one—this testimony is for you.

If only I knew what I would have learned through the long, winding journey of my life.

Introduction: My Story Begins

My name is Ruth Toutoute, and this is my testimony.

I am a survivor of kidney disease and the recipient of a successful kidney transplant. Today, I’m an advocate and coach for kidney wellness and prevention. But before I reached this point, I walked a difficult and painful road. Let me take you through the journey that brought me here.

Caring for My Father: The First Act of Sacrifice

My father battled diabetes, hypertension, and kidney disease for over a decade. Once he was diagnosed in 2001, I immediately jumped into action—becoming his advocate, managing his doctor appointments, medications, and care, all while I was still a college student.

At just 21 years old, I was diagnosed with hypertension myself due to stress. About a year later, I was also diagnosed with kidney disease, around 2009.

Juggling Everything: Ministry, College, and Declining Health

While I was coming to terms with my own health, my father’s condition was declining. I found myself juggling his care, my health, school, and multiple roles at church—on the praise team, in women’s ministry, and teaching. Eventually, it all became too much. Also dynamics shifted in the ministry which led me to step down and ultimately leave the church altogether.

Losing Myself in the Process

I was learning how to show up for everyone else, but not for myself. I kept moving—nonstop—driven by a need to please people, pushing past my problems instead of truly working through them.

Grief on Grief: The Losses Pile Up

Then, in 2014, I lost my father. I'm still not sure if at the time I fully processed his death, but once again, I stepped into the role of caretaker and planner—handling the funeral arrangements and leading my family through the storm.

Less than a year later, in 2015, I was hit with more devastating news: my former high school boyfriend—my young love—had been diagnosed with cancer, and he passed away shortly after. I was grieving my father, and now him too. Still, I sprang into action. I didn’t know how not to. I was hurting, but I couldn’t bring myself to step away from helping others.

More Trauma, More Pain

In 2016, just as I was beginning to breathe again, I received more news that felt like something out of a movie: my male cousin was shot and killed. I worked with detectives and helped fund a reward for information on the shooter. At the same time, I had my own health scare, which led to testing by a hematologist to rule out cancer as a factor in my declining kidney function.

In about 3 years I had carried loads and burdens I didn't know my body also felt. I emotionally was hit so many times and had to continue to push forward.

The Diagnosis: Kidney Failure

By 2020, I was now in stage 3 kidney failure. Though I made significant changes to my health, by 2021, I had progressed to stage 5. I was placed on dialysis and was then added to the transplant waiting list. Due to my rare blood type, finding a donor was especially difficult. Most people wait five years or more based on factors like age, location, health, blood type, and matching criteria. I began to lose hope.

Life Continued, But So Did the Decline

Doctors told me my kidneys were shrinking. I was trying to navigate newlywed life, graduate school, and dialysis. I thank God my husband stood by me and weathered the storm with me. There was a scare I recieved when we were newly-engaged where he badly had COVID and was hospitalized. But the same God that was with him was also with me. God never left me. Even when I didn’t know how I would make it but God kept me.

Multiple Surgeries and a Dropping GFR

In 2024, I underwent multiple surgeries unrelated to the kidney disease. I laugh now when I think about how many I have to list whenever I'm asked about past surgeries. Im amazed, what I made it through.

During that time, my Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR)—a key measure of kidney function—was dropping fast. A normal GFR is 90 mL/min or more. I started dialysis at 13 mL/min. By the time of my transplant, it had dropped to just 2 mL/min.

The Miracle: My Transplant

But God.

On September 8th, 2024, God came through. He TURNED it around—I received a kidney! After two and a half years on the waiting list, I almost didn’t make it to 2025. But God cut my waiting time in half and literally saved my life. I was shocked. It felt surreal.

The surgery lasted 9 hours—longer than expected—and I was later rushed to the ICU due to fluid retention. I was hospitalized for six days. Recovery wasn’t easy, but I’m here today because of God’s faithfulness.

What I Learned

Here’s what I want you to take away from my story.

It’s okay to set boundaries.

It’s okay to focus on yourself.

I was a people-pleaser, sacrificial, and selfless to a fault. But at some point, you have to ask yourself:

“Did God call me to all of that—or did I just make myself available to all of that?”

If you don’t focus on what God has called you to, you’ll end up focusing on what everyone else demands from you.

That’s why I now encourage others to live by this:

“My cup runneth over.”

Make sure your cup is full—because the cup is for you. The overflow is for others.

Share this testimony with a friend 🧡 🔗