Jessica Wheelock

My name is Jessica Wheelock and I am donating my kidney to my family friend, James Odom.

As most of you know, I am from Texas, where James lives, but have lived in Iowa most of my life. James has been on dialysis since 2019 for end stage kidney failure and is on the list for a kidney transplant.

Dialysis is a machine that he has to drive to a facility and hook up to 3 times a week. It filters his blood which drains him so much that he sleeps the rest of the day. Living Kidney donation is a common procedure because even though you are born with 2 kidneys, people live long healthy lives with 1 kidney. The life expectancy of a recipient more than doubles when receiving a living donor transplant.

I applied to go through the process to see if I am a match for James back in November of 2023. I received the best news on February 14, 2024. I am a 100% match for James! We then had to do a lot more blood work and urinalysis. All tests came back good and my kidney can be donated.

I have to go to Dallas for the CT scan so that they can decide which kidney I will be donating, then I go for the donation at Medical City Dallas Hospital at a later date. The surgery will take about 5 hours and I have to stay close to the hospital for 2 weeks post surgery in case anything goes wrong.

I can do check ups after I come back to Iowa for 6 months with my primary care physician but I will have to return to Dallas for a check up 6 months post transplant.

There are a lot of costs for travel and living expenses associated with all of this that insurance and other donation programs do not cover.

I have chosen to fundraise for Help Hope Live in part because Help Hope Live assures fiscal accountability of funds raised and tax deductibility for contributors. Contributors can be sure donations will be used to pay or reimburse medical and related expenses. To make a tax-deductible donation to this fundraising campaign, click on the Give button. And please share my campaign page on your social media platforms. Ask me how!

For more information, please contact Help Hope Live at 800.642.8399.

Thank you for your support!