When he looks back on his successful bodybuilding career - his multiple records and titles, his rise to number two world-wide, his encounters with enthusiastic fans overseas - Kenneth "Flex" Wheeler now realizes that bodybuilding "was probably the worst sport I could have gotten into."

He is full of understanding, not regret, that the disciplined regimen that took his 5’ 10" body to 300 pounds of mostly muscle was straining his kidneys. "I’m pretty sure that my sport and the high amounts of protein I took, as well as my utilization of steroids and potassium, all increased my risk," said Wheeler.

"The doctors explained that the continual breakdown and buildup of muscles was something difficult for my kidneys to deal with. They didn’t do well, that’s for sure."

Praised by now-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as "one of the best bodybuilders of all time," Wheeler was diagnosed with FSGS in 2000 and found his life drastically changed. One physician stressed that his steroid use had nothing to do with the onset and that the disease mysteriously appears in young people, more commonly in African-American males around age 25.

The fact that many cases of FSGS occur without a known cause is one reason Wheeler supports the NephCure mission of funding research into the disease, which attacks the tiny filters in the kidney, causing protein to spill into the urine and eventually scar the kidneys, often destroying them.

"I think people such as me have an obligation to speak up because we can bring notoriety to the disease. We can let other FSGS patients know that we are going through the same thing as them, we’re not super humans. They can know that they are not alone."

"Every doctor I’ve had does not lie," said Wheeler. "They say we know next to nothing about this disease, other than that it is aggressive and seems more dominant in black men. They say we have no cure for you.

"We need more funds for research. Period," said Wheeler.

After his diagnosis, Wheeler went on various medications to control the FSGS and for a time, he did well enough to stage an October, 2002 comeback, this time free of the bodybuilding steroids he now warns others about. He wore a tee shirt that read "Flex Wheeler. The Natural Body. Built on Conviction."

But by this past summer, it was clear that a transplant was in order, and a woman from his church offered to become the donor. Although the FSGS has recurred in the new kidney, "it is working at about 80 percent," he said.

The recovery has not been easy, with complications requiring an additional four surgeries since the September transplant. As Christmas was approaching, he still had not recovered his strength and his weight had dropped to 210 pounds.

"I’m happy to be here," said Wheeler. "I could have lost my life in some of these surgeries. I couldn’t do this without faith. God blessed me to be a light on the hill for others, and this disease is a tool I can use now to help others."

Details about Flex Wheeler and his book "Flex Ability: A Story of Strength and Survival" can be found at his web site at www.teamflexwheeler.com.