Faith, Family and Fortitude
Story: Amy Crawford
Photos: Courtesy Kyle and Candice Wooster
When their son was diagnosed with pediatric kidney disease, Kyle and Candice Wooster leaned on their faith, family and community.
Kyle Wooster ’03 and his wife Candice (Suttie) Wooster ’03 have four children: Jules (11), Gwyn (10), Paxton (8) and Aarav (6).
The Woosters discovered that Paxton had kidney disease when he was two years old.
“We only noticed it because he drank an excessive amount of water,” said Candice. “He had no other symptoms. His kidneys never fully developed, and their function was running low when we became aware.”
Kidney disease is not curable. A transplant is considered a treatment and not a cure. Pediatric kidney disease is considered rare. Early detection allowed doctors at Children’s Hospital in Omaha to treat Paxton’s symptoms and monitor his kidney function levels to ensure he could receive a transplant before the need for dialysis.
“You would have never known he was sick, even up to the day of his surgery. He has always been the highest energy kid in our household even up to today,” said Kyle. “However, the doctors monitored his functionality and were able to let us know when we could start looking for possible living donors. Several family members were ready to test for compatibility, but Candi and I tested first. We were blessed to find out that I was a match as Candi was not.”
Paxton never had to go on dialysis. In July 2021 Paxton had a successful transplant at four years old with his father as his donor.
“We’ve had one setback since that time which occurred in the fall of 2023, but Paxton was able to work through it. He spent seven days in the hospital, 30 days out of school and had to receive multiple treatments of apheresis to get rid of antibodies trying to harm the transplanted kidney. Today, his transplanted kidney is in stable condition.”
Paxton continues to do monthly blood tests, and sometimes those tests take place more often if there is a medication adjustment due to certain lab levels. The Woosters visit the transplant center at University of Nebraska Medical Center every six months to meet with doctors and check Paxton’s overall condition. He also has a daily water intake that must be monitored.
“Paxton continues to be a kid you would never know is battling a chronic disease,” said Kyle. “He is an athletic kid who plays a lot of sports, loves soccer and punting the football…really any sport with a ball he loves. He is a ball of energy that doesn’t let his health condition limit him. This will be a battle he fights for the rest of his life and will likely require additional transplants in the future.”
Kyle found his way to Concordia University, Nebraska after graduating from Lincoln Lutheran High School in 1999. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a minor in accounting from the university as well as an MBA with emphasis in finance from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.
He said he greatly enjoyed his time at Concordia Nebraska and appreciated the university’s small campus and Christian environment. He and his wife met during their time at the university.
“Concordia Nebraska provided the business skills to start a career but also helped established moral values through Christian education,” he said. “I certainly matured in my faith while at Concordia. Teachers and friends at the school all supported my faith and provided a positive environment.”
Kyle interned at Lutheran Brotherhood (now Thrivent Financial) during his time as a student at Concordia Nebraska.
“It was a great way to learn about a business career in the insurance field. I was able to get life and health insurance licensed and was looking into the Series 6 and 7 exams for securities products,” he said. “However, the cold calling sales approach was not a fit for me. I decided to pursue an MBA after Concordia and found a position at Pinnacle Bank in retail banking while completing my MBA. I was immediately interested in banking and wanted to find a way into commercial lending. An opportunity came up as an intern at West Gate Bank, and I’ve been there ever since.”
Kyle works as the senior credit officer with West Gate Bank, a $1.3 billion-dollar, family-owned bank in Lincoln and Omaha. He was the bank’s first intern and first analyst.
“I’ve always enjoyed being a part of a community bank. They are small enough to know most of your co-workers, connection with ownership and are impactful in your community. Through the years I’ve been able to engage in various volunteer activities, sit on local boards and get involved with our Lutheran school and church in Lincoln,” he said. “The loan department has been a great place to work with co-worker and customer relationships. It has been fulfilling to see local businesses and investors succeed with the capital support of our bank.”
Several years ago, Kyle served Concordia Nebraska as an adjunct professor for an investments course. For 15 years, he has coached basketball at Lincoln Lutheran, working with both the girls’ and boy’s programs in high school and middle school.
Control the controllables and trust God for the rest has been a mantra for us.
The Woosters adopted Aarav in May of 2023.
“He was a foster child for us prior to adoption and had been with our friends from church before coming with us,” explained Kyle. “Our friends had adopted his biological sister. We had been looking to grow our family, and after lots of discussions and prayers we moved forward with fostering and then the adoption of Aarav.”
“Through Paxton’s medical condition and the adoption we have really learned how to trust God and His plan for our lives,” added Candi. “Control the controllables and trust God for the rest has been a mantra for us. There have been many ups and downs, happy and sad moments through these events, and during the normal everyday of managing life and our family. Our faith has been invaluable and just knowing that it might not always be easy, but that God will be with us through it all has kept us focused and able to circle back to a calmer state to deal with whatever is before us at that moment.”