Shays medical/living fund





Hi my name is Shayonna Lane, I am 25 years old and I setup this go fund me page for assistance with a dream I’ve had for a few years now. A dream that has been clouded by surmounted medical bills and numerous hospital stays. Before discussing my dream, I’ll tell you a little about myself and why I need help in making my dream a reality.

My world totally flipped in my sophomore year of high school. I was living life and really enjoying high school at Castlemont High School in Oakland Ca. I was a star athlete on the girls JV basketball team. Ironically enough my dad was the coach of the team, Coach Lane. On this particular spring break, Coach Lane decided to give our JV basketball team a few days off for the break. The day the break began was the exact day I began feeling really bad; my lower back was throbbing and I kept falling asleep everywhere I went. My family couldn’t figure out why I was soooo tired since I hadn’t been practicing basketball.

After a few days, my mom took me to Children’s Hospital in Oakland where they decided to run some test. This is when my whirlwind journey began. By the time we made it home the hospital called and left an urgent message instructing my mom to take me back to the hospital to be admitted immediately. At the time I was 15 years old and had a sky high blood pressure. Later, we learned that my kidneys were spilling protein and blood into my urine which is not good. More test were ordered to rule out several conditions including a kidney biopsy to determine if I had Lupus as oppose to Chronic Kidney failure. Although both of these diseases are detrimental for a vibrant 15 year old athlete, Chronic Kidney failure seemed to be the less of the two. To my dismay, I received the horrifying news that my diagnosis was Lupus and I would never be able to play basketball again.

I was totally in denial but I had to conform to the diagnosis and treatment in order to move forward. I immediately began taking 15 different medicines that each had their own side effects. However, I was determine and committed to continue on with my life and wasn’t going to let a illness stop me from doing anything. At this point, I defied the odds and returned to playing basketball. One of the medications I was on was the steroid prednisone, this blew me up like a blow fish. My entire body was out of sort, my face was huge, and my stomach was so huge that my classmates and others assumed I was a pregnant teen. My body was quickly impacted with 55 pounds of fluid that couldn’t be drained at once. This is when all of the whispering and talking behind my back began. This was just as painful as my diagnosis. It was too much to deal with all at once. Thankfully with much prayer and conversations with family, I began telling myself it was just a phase that I was going through and it would all work out. Despite my diagnosis, I was still able to play basketball and graduate a hooper. This by far was one of my greatest accomplishments since the doctors said “I would never be able to play ball again”.

On my quest to beat the odds and this disease, I continued on with my life and I began College at Cal-State Eastbay. I was only able to attend for a short while before my condition took a turn for the worse. I had to leave school for what I thought would be temporary. Once again, I began to get very sick my body blew up, my chest was so tight, I could barely walk. My trips to Kaiser tripled and they constantly told me nothing was wrong and they would send me home with more meds. By the time the Dr’s listened to me and took my symptoms serious it was too late, I had gained so much weight I was now 215 pounds. I was placed on emergency dialysis 3 times a week with full blown Kidney failure. I was always in pain and I had forgot what normal felt like, I stopped my fun childhood to deal with managing my illness. After years of enduring this, I finally woke up and realized that Lupus/Kidney failure will not hold me hostage any longer. I have now began striving for my independence. I accept that I will have this life threatening illness for the rest of my life but I must do all I can to find happiness and independence for myself. I have since began working a job that understands my health condition and attendance uncertainty. The wage is minimal but it keeps me happy and out of the hospital as I am working towards my independence without relying on lifetime disability. I’m really striving to stay as healthy as I can my motivation has rejuvenated me, and recently I received incredible news that I am being moved up on the donor list for a Kidney transplant. Although the last 10+ years of my life has been riddled with pain and depression, I am now ready for the next chapter in my life and my transplant is just the beginning. I will now be able to live the life of a 20+ year old young adult. Your generous donations on my go fund me page will afford me the payoff some lingering medical bills, outrageous ambulances fees,pursue my career goals and possibly start a savings It will allow me to do things that Lupus has kept me from achieving. Your donations will give me the chance to make my dreams a reality.