Tenna Kirk

My Journey with CKD

Family and friends I am raising money using the nonprofit group Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with kidney transplant.

My battle started right around the time that COVID hit. I was so afraid to go out of my house until one day I started feeling really sick and I was out of meds, something kept telling me I needed to go to the doctor so I went in, I was told after getting my vitals checked that I needed to go to the hospital. My son who with me told them he would take me and after getting checked in the ER I ended up getting admitted. After running several test I was informed that in addition to other issues I had end stage kidney disease. The doctors said that with age and having diabetes this is something that happens in a lot of patients. I cried a lot and was confused and wondering what I had done in my life that God would punish me like this.

After thinking it over and talking with my son I finally accepted my condition and I asked God to forgive me and to walk with me through this struggle. I realized that I was not being punished and that I had a big part to play in my health condition. While I wished that I could turn back time and do things differently I couldn’t. Things happened very fast while I was in the hospital. They talked to us about treatment options and I was sent to surgery to have the catheter put in my chest.

TREATMENT TIME: When it was time for me to received my treatment at the facility I felt hopeful but boy was I wrong, they hooked me up just like they did when I was in the hospital but I immediately got sick and I mean really sick. They eventuality had to stop pulling fluid and just clean my blood. The doctor were concerned that my body couldn’t handle any fluid being pulled, which was an important part of the treatment. I panicked a little and worried that I wouldn’t be able to handle my treatment. One day one of the nurses said she wanted to try another type of dialysis for people who are allergic or more sensitive to the regular one. After she hooked me up I was good. I was so happy and I thanked God.. Over the years I just focused on receiving my treatment and trying to control my fluid intake. Things have been good but a still have a few issues with low blood pressure and feeling weak and tired.

I am thankful to My Aunts who checked on me and gave me guidance I also had the support of my friends and Sister Circle and I could not have made it without my son Dominique who has been my rock from the beginning holding me down as well as checking on my husband who has been battling his own issues.

I also want to share this, my condition has caused me to have poor vision. I came across an app called Glorify which lets me listen to the word and I love it, one of the many features it has is stories in the Bible. My favorite is Healing Jairus’ Daughter, within that story Jesus did many things on his way and one of them was the women who bleed for 12 years who was healed just by touching the helm of Jesus garment . This story encourages me and teaches me to trust and wait on the Lord.. I maybe tired and struggling but through GODs mercy and grace I am still here.

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

Thank you for your love and support