July 10, 2019

I am going to put this out there right away, I am not so good with words, and I certainly don’t like sharing words that are so close to my heart. I won’t do this message justice, but I will do it for my mom and dad.

Many of you who are reading this know Melodi Perry (mom) has a heart as big as Texas and always puts others before herself. She is loved by so many of her students, co-workers and community. (Home Town Hero Honored by Stephanie Lynne Calams Foundation!) Her faith in the lord and her love of her family, school and the students are what have helped her keep going.

Back in April 2015, my family’s life took an unexpected path. My mother became ill for several weeks and after many doctors’ visits, misdiagnoses and mistakes she ended up in the ER and it was discovered that she had a rare Auto Immune Disease that attacked her kidneys. She did several rounds of chemo and had a surgery to put in a port and begin dialysis. Most people know and understand what chemo treatment does to our bodies, but I found that learning about dialysis was a whole new experience. For those that may not know, dialysis is a huge commitment 5 days a week for 4 hrs a day, not to mention prep time, hook up and unhook. Dialysis can be very taxing on the body, causing fatigue, nausea and general sick feeling. Not to mention doing all this at home, for people who are not nurses, who don’t normally work with needles and body fluids etc…..just imagine if tomorrow you were trained to perform this process on one of your loved ones…..

As if that was not tough enough, there was a mistake in her prescription when she went home and after five weeks she experienced myopathy (she couldn’t walk at all, stand, even lift her feet.) she was having extreme pain and she ended up in the ER and had to have an emergency surgery (I will spare you the details). It was discovered there was a mistake in the amount of prednisone she was taking. This mistake not only caused other health issues it delayed the process of getting a transplant. The process of being on the transplant list was inactivated.

FINALLY, after 4 long arduous years of surgery’s, dialysis and pure fight and determination she was placed on the transplant list! Without a moment of hesitation many of us signed up as organ donors. To everyone’s astonishment, David Perry (my dad, Melodi’s husband) was clinically proven to be a good match. Hmmm who knew after 33 years of marriage there could be clinical proof of a good match. What an amazing and beautiful thing! This is what my dad had been praying for, to be her match, his prayers were answered! Their surgery took place May 14th, 2019. Dad’s recovery went very well and he is back to his day job! Mom’s recovery went well.

While they made it past a huge milestone and are so thankful, now they are both faced with several other challenges. On top of the general risks and vulnerability my mom will be challenged with. Transplant patients are required to be on anti rejection medication for the remainder of their life. Insurance does not cover all of the medical cost. We are finding some medications are not too expensive and others are small car payments.

We have been encouraged to begin fund raising due to the cost of anti-rejection medication and other medical expenses that the insurance does not cover. Much of these expenses will be incurred and impact my parents for the rest of their lives.

Even if your personal circumstances will not allow for monetary support we welcome all the prayers, blessings and good vibes. Our experience has been that the greatest power is from the prayers, love and support! Over the years, we have been so blessed to have so many wonderful family and friends praying for us and supporting us. From prayers to late night stays at the hospital, meals, rides and love.

Thank you for reading, thank you for letting me share something so personal with you. IF you know anyone who needs a kidney, contact me, I believe in paying it forward.