Fighting the Good Fight
Donation protected
Friends please help me raise money for my new kidney
Hey guys,
My name is Eddie and I have 2 bad kidneys. At the end of January I went for a CT scan to see why I kept getting sick. I couldn't eat or drink anything without getting sick. I couldn't drink the chalky stuff for the scan so they wheeled me over to the ER and they ran some tests. They told me my kidneys were failing. I was scared to death. I really didn't know what was going to happen. They did a biopsy on my kidneys and found out that they were only working at 4 or 5%. They didnt really know what had caused them to quit working other than some sort of protein in my stomach. I ended up staying in the hospital for 13 days and started doing dialysis while I was there and had 3 blood transfusions as well. For a month or so after I got out of the hospital, I was going to the dialysis clinic 3 times a week for 4 hours at a time. Then, I got to where I could do this home dialysis thing. It was better than the clinic but more often. I did it 4 times a day and it took about an hour each time. It was better than having to goto the clinic but sucked having to do it so much. Now, I have this machine that I hook up to every night and it does my dialysis for me. It's a lot easier and I don't have to fool with it during the day. I still have bad days, but mostly good. I do get tired real easy which is the hardest part for me. My diet has totally changed too. This past week we got a call from MUSC telling us they wanted to meet with some of the different doctors down there do some tests. I am back at work now, but I have doctors appointments about every week. The bills are starting to come in an it's crazy how much stuff costs. They charged me for every single thing while I was in the hospital. Somebody told me to fight the good fight, so that's what I'm doing each and everyday. Thanks for your thoughts, prayers, and support.
UPDATE: We may have found a donor!
So most of you know Eddie Bright's story, in January 2014 we found out that his kidneys had failed and were working at less than five percent. Over the next several months we learned more about kidney function than we thought we ever would, Eddie went through many tests, we learned about Kidney transplants, and made a trip to MUSC for Eddie to get tested and be put on the transplant list. While we were there we also learned about the living donor program and how people can donate one of their kidneys to someone who needs one if they are healthy enough and they are the right match.
When we initially learned about this I felt God leading me to start the tests to see if I was a match but I had many reservations and concerns about donating. First of all we have a five year old daughter and we would both be on the operating table at the same time. Second of all we would each have to have someone to be our caregiver for two weeks in Charleston, as well as making sure Elise was taken care of. And third of all how to financially manage with both of us out of work for 6-8 weeks, not to mention the cost of staying in Charleston for over two weeks and then traveling back and forth for many weeks after that. Needless to say we decided that there were too many risks and factors for me to be the donor.
Many of Eddies relatives went through testing, but for different reasons none of them were able to proceed with donation. That's when I realized God was still pushing and telling me to get tested. I pushed back and once again convinced myself that it was not the right thing to do. But after much prayer and discussion, I also knew that if God was telling me to do something, his plan must be so much bigger than mine. So I filled out the initial paperwork.
I passed the first round of tests with flying colors and I found out that I had the same rare blood type as Eddie. I knew then that it was no coincidence, this is what I was supposed to do. They scheduled me for two days of appointments at MUSC in Charleston so they could make absolutely sure that I was healthy enough and the right match.
We have spent the last two days there, I was poked, prodded, scanned, and asked 10,000 questions. But it was all relatively painless and so totally worth it. The consensus was the same throughout, everyone is almost positive that I am healthy enough, we just have to wait on the final tests to see if we are a true match and then wait for them to present our case before the committee to get the official go ahead.
We haven't set a date for surgery yet and there are still many details to put into place before we do, but we do believe that God is in control and already knows all the details that we do not. We also believe that transplant surgery is in our near future. So we need your help, we have an amazing support system and are so grateful for everyone's prayer and encouragement through all of this.
Many people offered to put together and hold fundraisers for us in the initial stages but we felt it was too soon. However now is the time, we need to raise a lot of money to cover all of the expenses it will take to make this happen. So if you would like to help us and hold a fundraiser of any kind for us we would be so grateful and would help in any way necessary. You can also donate to us by going to the link below. And lastly but perhaps most importantly, we need your prayers. Prayers that we will be a true match, prayers that God will work out all of the details needed to make this happen, and prayers for strength as our family goes through this very emotionally and physically draining time.
We know that God has a plan that is so much bigger than anything we can imagine and that is why we put all of our trust in him! Thank you!
Hey guys,
My name is Eddie and I have 2 bad kidneys. At the end of January I went for a CT scan to see why I kept getting sick. I couldn't eat or drink anything without getting sick. I couldn't drink the chalky stuff for the scan so they wheeled me over to the ER and they ran some tests. They told me my kidneys were failing. I was scared to death. I really didn't know what was going to happen. They did a biopsy on my kidneys and found out that they were only working at 4 or 5%. They didnt really know what had caused them to quit working other than some sort of protein in my stomach. I ended up staying in the hospital for 13 days and started doing dialysis while I was there and had 3 blood transfusions as well. For a month or so after I got out of the hospital, I was going to the dialysis clinic 3 times a week for 4 hours at a time. Then, I got to where I could do this home dialysis thing. It was better than the clinic but more often. I did it 4 times a day and it took about an hour each time. It was better than having to goto the clinic but sucked having to do it so much. Now, I have this machine that I hook up to every night and it does my dialysis for me. It's a lot easier and I don't have to fool with it during the day. I still have bad days, but mostly good. I do get tired real easy which is the hardest part for me. My diet has totally changed too. This past week we got a call from MUSC telling us they wanted to meet with some of the different doctors down there do some tests. I am back at work now, but I have doctors appointments about every week. The bills are starting to come in an it's crazy how much stuff costs. They charged me for every single thing while I was in the hospital. Somebody told me to fight the good fight, so that's what I'm doing each and everyday. Thanks for your thoughts, prayers, and support.
UPDATE: We may have found a donor!
So most of you know Eddie Bright's story, in January 2014 we found out that his kidneys had failed and were working at less than five percent. Over the next several months we learned more about kidney function than we thought we ever would, Eddie went through many tests, we learned about Kidney transplants, and made a trip to MUSC for Eddie to get tested and be put on the transplant list. While we were there we also learned about the living donor program and how people can donate one of their kidneys to someone who needs one if they are healthy enough and they are the right match.
When we initially learned about this I felt God leading me to start the tests to see if I was a match but I had many reservations and concerns about donating. First of all we have a five year old daughter and we would both be on the operating table at the same time. Second of all we would each have to have someone to be our caregiver for two weeks in Charleston, as well as making sure Elise was taken care of. And third of all how to financially manage with both of us out of work for 6-8 weeks, not to mention the cost of staying in Charleston for over two weeks and then traveling back and forth for many weeks after that. Needless to say we decided that there were too many risks and factors for me to be the donor.
Many of Eddies relatives went through testing, but for different reasons none of them were able to proceed with donation. That's when I realized God was still pushing and telling me to get tested. I pushed back and once again convinced myself that it was not the right thing to do. But after much prayer and discussion, I also knew that if God was telling me to do something, his plan must be so much bigger than mine. So I filled out the initial paperwork.
I passed the first round of tests with flying colors and I found out that I had the same rare blood type as Eddie. I knew then that it was no coincidence, this is what I was supposed to do. They scheduled me for two days of appointments at MUSC in Charleston so they could make absolutely sure that I was healthy enough and the right match.
We have spent the last two days there, I was poked, prodded, scanned, and asked 10,000 questions. But it was all relatively painless and so totally worth it. The consensus was the same throughout, everyone is almost positive that I am healthy enough, we just have to wait on the final tests to see if we are a true match and then wait for them to present our case before the committee to get the official go ahead.
We haven't set a date for surgery yet and there are still many details to put into place before we do, but we do believe that God is in control and already knows all the details that we do not. We also believe that transplant surgery is in our near future. So we need your help, we have an amazing support system and are so grateful for everyone's prayer and encouragement through all of this.
Many people offered to put together and hold fundraisers for us in the initial stages but we felt it was too soon. However now is the time, we need to raise a lot of money to cover all of the expenses it will take to make this happen. So if you would like to help us and hold a fundraiser of any kind for us we would be so grateful and would help in any way necessary. You can also donate to us by going to the link below. And lastly but perhaps most importantly, we need your prayers. Prayers that we will be a true match, prayers that God will work out all of the details needed to make this happen, and prayers for strength as our family goes through this very emotionally and physically draining time.
We know that God has a plan that is so much bigger than anything we can imagine and that is why we put all of our trust in him! Thank you!
Organizer
Tina Bright
Organizer
