For the Hotop family, Christmas 2025 will be marked by more than decorations, traditions, and gathering around the tree. It will be remembered as the season when life was renewed — quite literally — through faith, family, and an extraordinary gift between siblings.
Jamey Hotop, a familiar face in the community and an assistant football coach at Perryville High School, spent much of the past three years fighting a quiet but relentless battle with kidney disease. What began after a bout with COVID in 2021 slowly revealed itself as IgA nephropathy, a condition that caused his kidney function to decline at an alarming pace.
“I was shocked,” Jamey said. “I worked out five or six days a week. I ate right. I’d never had health issues before.”
By the time doctors confirmed his kidney function had dropped into Stage 3, Jamey and his wife, Jennifer — Perry County’s Circuit Court Clerk — began a new way of life built around appointments, lab work, and careful monitoring. Despite medication and strict dietary changes, the disease progressed steadily.
By late 2024, the situation became urgent.
“December was a race against the clock,” Jennifer said. “His kidneys were failing, and everything had to happen fast.”
Jamey began peritoneal dialysis at home through Fresenius Kidney Care, a demanding process that required him to be connected to a machine for more than 11 hours every night. While the treatment kept him alive, it came at a cost.
“You’re exhausted all the time,” Jamey said. “You don’t sleep. You lose sharpness. You’re living — but not really living.”
Jennifer became his caregiver, advocate, and anchor through it all — managing medications, helping with dialysis, coordinating appointments, and offering steady encouragement during the darkest days.
“She was my rock,” Jamey said. “I couldn’t have survived without her.”
Behind the scenes, another chapter was quietly unfolding.
In March, when Jennifer let the family know Jamey would be placed on the transplant list, his siblings didn’t hesitate. His sister, Pam Riney — a junior high science teacher at St. Vincent Catholic School — made the call the very next day to begin donor testing.
“I never thought in a million years about being a donor,” Pam said. “But once I started learning about it, I just kept thinking, ‘Why not?’”
Months of testing followed — blood work, scans, stress tests, and evaluations — while Pam stayed in close contact with her transplant coordinator. Though several siblings volunteered, Pam ultimately became the approved donor.
“I stayed on them,” she laughed. “I just kept asking, ‘What’s next?’
The date was set for Oct. 28.
The transplant took place at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, with two surgical teams working simultaneously — one for Pam, whose kidney was removed robotically, and another for Jamey. The family filled the waiting room, receiving updates every hour.
Pam’s kidney began working almost immediately. “When I woke up, my numbers were already improving,” Jamey said. “By the next day, they were even better.”
After nearly a year of dialysis, Jamey was free — no tubes, no machine, no nightly ritual tying him to survival.
“The first shower without anything attached — that was huge,” he said.
Recovery wasn’t easy for either of them. Pam described the first weeks as physically uncomfortable and emotionally overwhelming, while Jamey worked through soreness and limited mobility. But progress came quickly.
“They were down the hall from each other,” Jennifer said. “They kept ending up in the same room because Pam didn’t want to leave him.”
Within days, both were home. Within weeks, Jamey’s strength and color returned. Today, he continues weekly bloodwork at home and remains cautious while his immune system is suppressed, but the future looks bright.
“There’s life again,” Jennifer said. “Real life.”
The family credits not only doctors and surgeons, but also the nurses who stood with them night and day — especially Mary, a Fresenius Kidney Care nurse Jennifer calls their “lifeline” throughout the dialysis year.
Now, as Christmas approaches, the Hotops are focused on milestones once thought uncertain — including celebrating together and attending their oldest son’s wedding in January.
Pam, who insists the real hero is her brother, has found herself gently encouraging others to consider living donation.
“You can live a completely normal life,” she said. “And you give someone else theirs back.”
Jamey, meanwhile, has his own Christmas perspective — fittingly so, since his sister was born on Christmas Day.
“She saved my life,” he said simply. “I can never repay that.”
This year, the Hotop family will celebrate Christmas with a deeper meaning — one defined by gratitude, resilience, and a sister’s extraordinary gift of life.
