Innovative weight loss program for kidney disease patients

Johnny Alexander: Nice out here, isn't it?

Emily Gibbs: Johnny Alexander loves machines. He's a truck driver and car enthusiast, but his hobby had to take a backseat.

Johnny Alexander: And he told me my kidneys were going bad. I said, "both of them?" He said, "yeah, both of them." 

Emily Gibbs: Dialysis, four hours, three days a week. A machine did the work his kidneys could not.

Johnny Alexander: If you weren’t on dialysis, you'd die.

Emily Gibbs: To get his life back, he needed a new kidney, but at 305 pounds and diabetic, he couldn't get a transplant. 

Priya Singh, MBBS: There could be the technical difficulties that can happen during the implantation of the organ and after the surgery there could be wound healing problems.

Emily Gibbs: Dr. Priya Singh, a transplant nephrologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, says an increased body mass index makes the surgery too high risk. 

Priya Singh, MBBS: Unfortunately, many of these patients, they will never get transplanted. They never are able to lose weight. 

Emily Gibbs: Dr. Singh began studying GLP-1s, or weight loss injections, and then created a clinic specifically for diabetic patients.

Priya Singh, MBBS: As long as you don't change the lifestyle and the habits, it will be very difficult to sustain that weight loss. 

Emily Gibbs: Johnny followed her program and in three months, he dropped 30 pounds. 

Johnny Alexander: They called me and said, "Johnny, you are eligible for kidney transplant." I cried. It makes a big difference. 

Emily Gibbs: At the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, I'm Emily Gibbs.