From the time he was a young boy, Teddy Porter was raised by his father in a modest home in East Cobb where he participated in a variety of youth sports.
He played recreational basketball at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church and baseball at Sandy Plains Baseball, and football in the Pope High School programs. His father was his youth coach for a couple of years.
With his years as a Pope student disrupted by COVID-19 closures and restrictions, Teddy wasn’t sure what he wanted to do after graduating in 2021.
A few months later, Charlie Porter, his father, was told he would need a kidney transplant.
Without hesitation, Teddy volunteered to donate a kidney.
“I thought that I probably had the best chance” to be a good match, he said.
But Charlie was hesitant, even though Teddy did turn out to be an ideal donor.
“I don’t know how much time I have left,” says Charlie, 69, from the living room of his home off North Hembree Road, in an interview this week with East Cobb News.
“But at first I said I don’t want to put my 21-year-old-son under the knife.”
A friend, Brenda Isaac of the One Love Learning Foundation, an Atlanta non-profit that helps children in disadvantaged situations through the establishment of schools and community gardens, reminded him that he wanted to raise his son in a stable community, and that he made sacrifices to do so.
“Here’s his chance to give back,” Charlie recollected Isaac telling him about Teddy’s offer to donate a kidney.
On Tuesday, Charlie, Teddy and Isaac will be in Nashville, where the transplant will take place at Vanderbilt Health.
After the surgery, Teddy will return home after a few days, while Charlie will have to stay for at least a month, and possibly up to eight weeks.
In the months since they made this father-son arrangement, Charlie said he’s been able to reflect upon the role of his children—he has two daughters, 40 and 38, who are Teddy’s half-sisters—who have rushed to their father’s side during his health crisis.
“It’s been a lesson in love for me,” said Charlie, who had to retire last year after a 30-year career in the trade show business. “They’ve shown up unconditionally for me.”
Teddy’s parents are divorced. He was home-schooled for a while until his father got sole custody. His mom is still close by—she’ll be looking after Teddy after he returns from the transplant operation—and he said he doesn’t see much of a downside to being a donor.
“My mom has been very helpful,” Teddy said.
He’ll lose a kidney, but said doctors told him the capacity of his remaining kidney “expands by 20-30 percent.”
There aren’t many side effects, although he can’t take ibuprofen. And he won’t be able to go back to heavy lifting at various trade show jobs he’s had right away.
As a male, he can’t pass on the gene for Alport Syndrome, a rare condition Charlie inherited from his mother.
And if Teddy should need a kidney transplant at some point in his life, he would be a priority since he’s been a donor.
“Most people with this don’t make it to my age,” Charlie says of Alport Syndrome, which affects mostly children and young adults.
He’s had a uralysis every five years, and it’s the one he had in 2021 that resulted in the Alport Syndrome diagnosis.
After about a year, Charlie wanted a second opinion, after enduring quite a bit of fatigue. In addition to his work, he couldn’t even mill around in his garden or volunteer at the One Love Learning gardens, including one at Maynard Jackson High School in Atlanta.
Neither has he been able to continue taking up yoga, which he says has been a revelation to him. After his mother died, he started taking classes at Peach Out Power Yoga in East Cobb, and befriended owner Karen Patton.
“I fell in love with it,” Charlie says. “It changed my life in many ways.”
He credits yoga in part for contributing to his his otherwise good health, which made him a strong candidate for a transplant.
He said that doctors conducted testing to project longevity, and he came in the middle of the KDPI calculator at 49.
So he’s hopeful about his prospects after the transplant.
“If all goes well, I should be able to get another eight to 10 years,” Charlie said.
“I thought it was 20,” Teddy responded.
On Tuesday, Teddy’s surgery will begin early in the morning, and last around two hours. Charlie’s surgery will take place immediately after that, and he is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days before staying in an Airbnb he has rented out in Nashville.
While he rehabs, there will be follow-up visits with doctors before he’s allowed to return home.
Charlie’s already turning the wheels in his own mind about becoming active in his life again. He served on the board of the East Cobb YMCA, in addition to his career and other community activities.
“I have been active since I was 16 years old,” he said. “That’s been the hardest thing for me. Now I’m starting to look at the other side of this.”
He wants to get back to yoga and gardening, and to see his son further into adulthood. Teddy said he’s pondering college but possibly joining the military more than that.
“This process has been a family affair,” Charlie said. “My three children have rallied around me, and it’s amazing to me that they said they were going to do this together.”
Charlie looked Teddy squarely in the eyes and said “my son gave me a purpose. A big part of my life was raising this boy, and I just wanted him to be a good boy.
“People say to me that Teddy is a kind boy.”
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