Help Erik Find A New Kidney!!

Hello! My name is Erik Somerville. I am a 43-year-old Deaf man originally from Bridgeport, CT, who currently lives in Columbia, SC. I am a big fan of cooking, playing video games, and traveling whenever I can. My kidney disease journey started when I made a big move from Bridgeport, CT, to York, PA in 2021 to live with my fiancée. I thought I was homesick at the time, but it turnt out to be COVID. I ended up in the hospital because of how sick I was with COVID. During my hospital stay, I found out that I have stage 4 kidney disease due to years of not taking care of my diabetes and high blood pressure. This new diagnosis made me feel hurt and sad. I never thought I’d go through something like this.

A few months later, I visited a vascular surgeon to schedule surgery for a dialysis access procedure. I started dialysis on May 16th, 2022, and have been on it for almost 4 years. I had a kidney transplant evaluation in PA, where I was told that I didn’t qualify. My weight, my high blood pressure, and uncontrollable diabetes disqualified me. This made me realize how bad I had gotten and that if I continued down this path of ignoring my health, I would not be alive for much longer. This made me get serious about showing the doctors, and more importantly, myself, that I wanted to get my health issues under control. I got weight loss surgery, which has eliminated my diabetes, stabilized my blood pressure, and helped me lose weight.