I was waking up with extreme fatigue. My joints were swollen to twice their size. Everything exhausted me. Just getting up and dressed in the morning was a huge struggle. I would wake up to get ready for work and after my shower I was ready for a nap.
I slowly started to feel like a prisoner in my own body, having no energy to do anything that I used to love. Going to happy hour with my girlfriends sounded like a chore, improv rehearsal was no longer fun, going for a run (something that I had done since I was 11) seemed like an impossible task. The exhaustion and the pain that coursed through my body was all I could think about.
At 24, I had always been extremely healthy and active. I would often pride myself on my health. So this change in my demeanor was very confusing to me. Something was seriously wrong with me. After three months of sucking up the symptoms and pain like the tough chick I am, I realized I could not put it off any more and I had find out what was going on. The third doctor I visited finally figured out that I had lupus, an auto immune disease that is basically your own body attacking you. The type of lupus I have attacks my kidneys.
Now I am on the journey to get a new kidney and I need the help and support of my friends and community. The transplant surgery is expensive, so is dialysis, and medications can be pricey too.
To help with this financial burden, a fundraising campaign in my honor has been established with HelpHOPELive, a nonprofit organization that has been assisting the transplant community for 30 years. All donations are tax-deductible, are held by HelpHOPELive in the Midwest/West Kidney Transplant Fund, and are administered by HelpHOPELive for transplant-related expenses only.
Anything you can contribute would mean the world to me and help me in this journey.I know I am not alone in this fight.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Sincerely,
Mara Wiles
720-323-3610
[email protected]
