Good afternoon all!
If you have been following me from the beginning, you will know that I have chronic kidney disease. For those of you who don’t know, please read my post for the full story 🙂
Short summary: I’ve had a kidney transplant in 1998 when I was six years old. For 23 years, I’ve lived with this disease as normally as I could with the exception of some physical limitiations, immunosuppressants for life, and a healthy diet and lifestyle. In Dec 2018 after battling a kidney infection for many months, my kidney function had declined below 15% and I enrolled into the National Kidney Transplant list. For my blood type, they told me to expect to wait on that list for 8+ years since finding someone with my blood type that will match all my tissues would be difficult. I’ve been stable for the past 2.5 years and although some health issues pertaining to kidney failure have developed over time, it hasn’t stopped me from continuing to work and being physically active. Well, today changed everything.
I recieved a phone call from Loma Linda Transplant Center that I will be getting a new kidney, April 13th this year! My cousin made it onto the swap program which means although he is not MY direct donor, he will be swapping kidneys with another donor in another city. His kidney will go save a life in San Francisco and the recipient in San Francisco has a live donor who will be donating to me. I am so excited for this new chance at life. God is good and has listened to our prayers every day. I’m so grateful that I didn’t need to go through dialysis this time around. Thank you all who supported me through well wishes, sending loving vibes and for the prayers. After July of this year (once fully recovered) I am excited to starting a new life that is more active, happy, and painless.
Thank you all for coming to my Ted Talk (lol). I hope you all go out there and live the best life you can!
