Hello everyone!
My name is Michelle and I have been battling renal disease for more than nine years. I was a 40-year-old single mom when I first ended up in the hospital close to death. I was admitted for 10 days and then had to start the slow process of recovery. I have had two kidney biopsies and both have come back with nonspecific results – no clear indication as to what caused my kidney failure – even after repeated re-testing. I have done my best to take care of myself; steroids are no longer helping to maintain my kidney function. My only hope is a kidney transplant.

I am the sole provider for my family and will soon have to start dialysis. I have always been able to work and hope to maintain that schedule moving forward, if at all possible. A few people have offered to be tested in hopes of becoming my living donor, but at the same time I am hoping to be placed on the active transplant waiting list as another way to find a compatible kidney. Before I can be cleared for the transplant surgery I must lose 30 pounds.