Annie is a single mom in her mid-30's with 3 great kids (and she's my sweet cousin, who has endured and triumphed over significant tragedies and challenges throughout her life).  A year ago, she was diagnosed with end stage kidney disease and immediately began dialysis treatments 3x a week.  Over the past year, she's had numerous surgeries for different health conditions, but the most invasive (and most exciting) surgery took place on April 18th.  Annie's mom, Patty, tested as a good match for donating one of her kidneys to Annie and they both went into transplant surgery on 4/18.  Many prayers and skilled doctors carried them both through successfully, and they have each started the long road to recovery. 

Having a functioning kidney will make a huge difference in Annie's life.   Before this tremendous gift from her mom, Annie's life expectancy and quality of life was dramatically limited.  Now, she won't have to go to the dialysis center every other day for 3+ hours a day.  She won't feel sick all the time.  She will have a much healthier and longer life.

End stage kidney disease is such a serious condition that it's one of the only things covered by Medicare for individuals under age 65.  Many of the medical bills are covered.  But all kinds of other things make this a very expensive time for both Annie and Patty, especially having to take several weeks off of work.

Several family members are helping to care for Annie and Patty post-surgery, but it will be a lengthy recovery.  Please help us cover meals, deep cleaning and disinfecting, medications, lost wages, and on-going expenses for recovery. 

(And I would love to send these wonderful women on a trip somewhere fun and relaxing after they've both fully recovered and regained stability in their lives.  Any extra donations will go towards that trip . . . or if you have airline miles or an awesome vacation house, feel free to donate creatively, too!)

Thank you, thank you, thank you for demonstrating your love and care to this family!