I Need a Kidney Transplant and Your Help!

My life was completely changed 17 years ago when I was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure. At 19, I was rushed to the emergency room and immediately placed on hemodialysis. I accepted the hemodialysis catheter that was placed in my neck as a blessing — a lifesaver. Prior to that, I had experienced undiagnosed medical problems that in the end left me deathly ill. Once I was placed on dialysis I was also told that my only chance at a healthy life was to have a kidney transplant.

After I was on dialysis for two years, my sister lovingly offered to be my living kidney donor. While dialysis allowed me to live, the kidney transplant allowed me to live an active life, have a job, receive promotions and responsibilities, go to school, travel and even try different foods – all normal life experiences a person in her 20’s or 30’s would hope to have. I have taken care of my “gift-of-life” for 15 years. Unfortunately, transplanted organs do not endure for a lifetime and it is now time for me to undergo a second kidney transplant.