Frances Gilmore

Please help make a difference in my life

I have great news to share! On September 11, 2012, I received a lifesaving kidney transplant. It was a complete success! My childhood friend, Sandi was the donor and I will be forever grateful to her for her selflessness. Because of her I have a new life. I feel so deeply honored to have the loving support from family and friends who also helped make this happen.

Leading up to the transplant, I found myself a single woman at the age of fifty-two living with end-stage kidney failure. I had been on peritoneal dialysis, ten hours every night plus one exchange during the day. This had become my life for the last two years. I had faced other challenges since starting dialysis; two stomach hernias and, while my stomach healed, complications with temporary catheters in my neck for hemodialysis.

Now I can focus on recovery. Yet, with the celebration, the continued financial burden remains. Although I have insurance it does not cover the astronomical cost of my anti-rejection medication I will be on for the rest of my life. It is a financial burden I can’t face alone.

To help offset these uninsured costs, a fundraising campaign in my honor has been established with HelpHOPELive, a nonprofit organization that has been assisting the transplant community for over 30 years. All contributions are tax deductible, are held in the South-Central Kidney Transplant Fund, and are administered by HelpHOPELive for transplant-related expenses only. Please consider a contribution.

Thank you for your kindness and generosity and for the opportunity to live a normal life.