'A partner in the journey': How Butte siblings' bond led to a new kidney, better health

Kyle Isakson and Desiree Phillips would agree, “A sibling is not just family, but a partner in the journey of life,” as best-selling American author Mitch Albom once said.

Since childhood, the two have had each other’s backs.

One such journey, concluding 19 months ago, brought the Butte siblings even closer.

Obstacles, and there were a few, had to be overcome beforehand.

Phillips, 45, developed kidney problems during her first pregnancy 17 years ago.

Too much protein in her urine would prove to be problematic and would escalate through her next two pregnancies.

Isakson, too, had a long-standing medical issue — obstructive sleep apnea, defined by the Mayo Clinic as “a potentially serious condition that causes breathing to stop and start several times during sleep.”

Phillips’ condition would worsen until finally, five years ago, she had to go on dialysis.

For nearly three years, she spent four hours a day, three days a week receiving the treatment which, according to the National Kidney Foundation, consists of removing extra fluid and waste products from the blood.

Phillips’ treatment coincided with her full-time job with Intermountain Health St. James Hospital.

“I started to feel better, but it was a draining process,” said Phillips, who has worked at the medical facility for 21 years.

Isakson, who works at Montana Resources, had been fighting sleep apnea for 20 years.

Medical technicians monitored his sleep patterns during several sleep studies and Isakson would learn he experienced 105 episodes of apnea per hour.

He also found out why: once asleep, his tongue relaxed and blocked his airwaves.

“That’s what caused me to quit breathing,” he said.

Quest for new kidney

In February 2022, Phillips and her father, Dave Isakson, were getting ready to travel to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. The patriarch of the Isakson family wanted to donate a kidney to his daughter.

Unfortunately for Phillips, her dad had developed medical issues that disqualified him.

“He was devastated,” she said.

That’s when her brother stepped in to help.

The pair arrived at the Mayo Clinic, undergoing 40 to 50 tests.

“That was a tough one,” hey brother said.

A month later, the siblings returned to the Mayo.

Isakson, 42, was told in order to qualify as a donor, he had to lose some weight, get in shape, monitor his heart and get his sleep apnea under control.

Those goals were not unobtainable, nor were they achievable overnight, but Isakson was determined.

The first three requirements he was able to conquer. The sleep apnea remained difficult as he continued to unknowingly remove his CPAP mask in his sleep, which in turn affected not only his sleep, but his wife Katie’s as well.

Solving the sleep apnea

Looking for other treatment options, Isakson found a procedure on the internet called Inspire therapy, a small surgically implanted device that treats obstructive sleep apnea via a remote.

According to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, the implant, approved by the FDA in 2014, delivers gentle pulses to the airway muscles which, in turn, helps the recipient breathe regularly and sleep soundly.

Further research led Isakson to Dr. Kyle Tubbs of Kalispell, who performed his surgery.

Intensive testing, along with a tonsillectomy, was required before qualifying for the device — Inspire’s hypoglossal nerve stimulator — but it was eventually inserted.

Essentially, the device prevents Isakson’s tongue from blocking his airwaves while sleeping.

“I don’t keep my wife up anymore,” said Isakson. “People around me are happier.”

The new kidney

The success of Isakson’s surgery led to his sister receiving a kidney on July 16, 2024, at the Mayo Clinic.

The kidney was not, however, donated by her brother. Turns out, he was not a direct match.

“That was kind of hard to hear,” he said.

Although the siblings were not a match, that didn’t mean Isakson didn’t donate. He, too, had surgery the same day to remove a kidney, which went to a patient in Atlanta, Georgia, while Phillips’ kidney came from South Carolina.

As Phillips explained, by her brother donating a kidney, it enabled her to receive a kidney sooner rather than later.

“I could still be on the waiting list,” she said.

According to the National Kidney Foundation, more than 101,000 Americans currently need a kidney, and approximately 17,000 people receive one each year.

Following surgery, Phillips spent six weeks in Arizona for repeat testing and further treatment for a staple that came out too early. She then headed home to Butte to further recuperate for several weeks.

Isakson recovered much quicker. He was in Arizona for two weeks and returned to Butte to convalesce for another week. Then it was back on the job at Montana Resources, with light duty for three months.

Since the surgery, Phillips has returned twice to the Mayo for checkups.

“My kidney continues to look good,” she said.

Isakson, who married his wife, Katie, on Oct. 14, 2023, is a first-time father to son Beckam, now six months old. He also competed in last year’s annual Sorini 25, a Butte 100 mountain bike race.

“Life’s good,” he said.

Come July it will be two years since the surgery.

Through it all, the siblings have retained their sense of humor.

Phillips now has a shirt she wears from time to time asking, “Does my kidney look good on me?” While Isakson’s T-shirt begs the question, “Dude, where’s my kidney?”