Kidney Transplant... Road to Recovery

In March of 2018, I was a 30 year old young man, that I believed I was living my best life. I had plenty of friends and pretty women. I had just accepted a job making big money and one weekend I was celebrating and partying, the next weekend my life would change forever. I became very sick and I was rushed to UMMC, where I found out my kidneys had failed and I spent the next 2 months in the hospital. I was told that I would need a transplant and I had to immediately began dialysis treatments. Those 2 months were some of the darkest times in my life, I was angry and all I could do was question "God Why Me???" Little did I know that he had a plan for my life that was not my plan. My Parents, Aunt Shirley, and Uncle June and my Pastor Anthony McCullum and his wife Mrs. Tonya constantly visited me and kept my head up. They told me one thing that has stuck with me and that was to put all my trust in the Lord. While in the hospital my uncle gave me a task to read Proverbs and then challenged me to keep reading The Bible, to which I haven't stopped till this day. The first sign of how blessed my life is, was within a month of being home I was being evaluated at 2 hospitals and eventually put on 2 transplant lists. Once I came home the real battle began. I had to go to dialysis 3 times a week for up to 4 hours. The dialysis treatments took a toll on my body even though they kept me alive. The only way I can describe how the dialysis treatments made me feel is imagine working a 12 hour shift in the Mississippi heat, even though you were laid back in a chair the whole time. I felt drained and the only thing I wanted to do was eat and pass out for a couple of hours. Even though I felt like this 3 days a week, I still maintained a full time job working the other 4 days out of the week. I continued this routine until I had to take some time off of work to have my 1st kidney removed due to renal cell carcinoma and then the Covid Pandemic hit and I had to have my 2nd kidney removed for the same reason. Despite having kidney cancer, there was no other signs of cancer in my body. With me having 2 surgeries and Covid running rapid, my doctors wanted me to take a year off from work. Through all of this my parents were a blessing and let me live at home, so that me being sick and missing work alot I wouldn't have any worries about money issues. (Also so my mama could keep a close eye on her baby boy) It was during my year off of work that I decided I wanted to return to college and I was recently accepted into the Respiratory Therapy program at PRCC and I begin this fall. Once upon a time, I use to be real cocky and felt like I was invincible, but over the last 3 years being in a room with people that was 30-40 years my age and we are all fighting the same battle has taught me how to be humble and to never take the simplest things in life such as drinking all the water you want or even just peeing for granted. With that being said, today that journey ends and tomorrow my new journey begins. Back in May, I found out that my sister got tested and she was a perfect match and she was going to share with me a piece of herself. I am her baby brother and I always had a piece of her heart, on Tuesday, August 3rd, 2021 I will now have one of her kidneys also. Even though we had a minor setback and the surgery was pushed back, while I had a battery of test ran along with a couple of small procedures done. It is now transplant time!!!!! All I know is "He Brought Me This Far" and it only takes the faith of a mustard seed to move mountains... To everybody that has lifted me up in prayer, I am truly thankful from the bottom of my heart. Getting up all those early mornings for treatment and every tired hour I spent working, your prayers and words of encouragement kept me going. To anybody that is going through tough times all I can say is "Tough times don't last, but Tough people do" Some scriptures that helped me deal with the hand I was dealt are Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths." Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I want you to always remember "Its Always Darkest, Just Before Dawn" The next few months will not be easy as I recover and get adjusted to all of my medications, but I have no doubt I will end up being stronger than I have ever been before. I realize that my life is a testament and I pray that me telling my story will help someone going through a rough patch. I know now I am Blessed and Highly Favored and I pray the same for all of my family and friends.

Love, Peace and Chicken grease

Donald Wayne Myers Jr.

2023 UPDATE: THAT WAS DONALD'S STORY BACK IN 2021!! HE WILL BLESS Y'ALL WITH THE UPDATED VERSION AT A LATER DATE.

HELLO, MY NAME IS JANENE AND I CREATED THIS GOFUNDME ON BEHALF OF MY BROTHER DONALD AND MY PARENTS WAYNE & KATHRYN MYERS. On Wednesday, March 15, 2023, at 11:58 pm my brother Donald received a life changing call that would indeed change his life and our family's life for the better. On the other end of the call the Kidney Transplant Coordinator from New Orleans, Louisiana told my brother there was a kidney available and his blood type was a perfect match for it. My family and I left Hattiesburg, Mississippi at 1:00am and arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana at 3:00am. Donald was taken back for surgery at 7:00am.

The surgery was successful and Donald is doing well. YOUR HELP IS NEEDED TO ASSIST WITH IMMEDIATE NEEDS FOR THE NEXT 2-3 CRUCIAL WEEKS OF THIS ROAD TO RECOVERY. Per hospital orders... since our family lives over 90+ miles (Hattiesburg, Mississippi) from Ochsner Medical Center. My brother and Mom have to stay in the local area for the next 2-3 weeks. These funds will assist in covering housing, food, gas, etc. ANY AMOUNT IS APPRECIATED! We are so grateful for your continued prayers and support throughout this journey we started 5 years ago!!