Life Interrupted

My name is Terry Allen, I am a 35 year old father of my beautiful daughter, Taylor Marie, age 6. In 2013, I thought I was a healthy 33 year old man, making a career and a home for my child. Bam, at a routine annual physical I was given some devastating news, I have Stage 1 Kidney Disease. How can a healthy, non-smoker, non-drinker, have such a deadly disease at such a young age. At this time, my daughter was only 4 years old, she hadn't started Kindergarten yet and I was wondering if I would see her graduate from high school. Fast forward to 2015, the disease quickly progressed to Stage 4-5, chronic, requiring immediate action on my part. At this point I had no choice but to have surgery and be placed on dialysis in order to survive day to day until a donor for a kidney transplant is found.

Present day, I have to be connected to a machine nightly to release toxins that normal people can get up and pass through their urine. I have to plan my days around 9 hours of medical treatments everyday, which leaves me tired, distressed and most of the time unable to spend quality time with my daughter. It also hinders me from working a normal shift without becoming fatigue, due to the severness of the disease and the treatments I have to complete on a daily basis. Imagine a nice day trip to New Orleans is one that I can no longer take unless I have machines, medicines and a sterile location to make exchanges. Imagine your guest bedroom being turned into a room full of medicine that you have to take on a daily basis and explaining all of this to your 6 year old daughter that is terrified everytime she sees you or comes near one of these rooms.

Now, I am at the point where a transplant is near but I will be out of commission for about for 3 months. The doctor bills, cost of medication, time off work to go to appoinments back and forth are piling up. Insurance is great but it doesn't cover all expenses. The money that is raised will be used to help cover the cost of medications, household expenses while out of work and the balance of hospital expenses.

I need the funds by March of 2016, in which I pray that the transplant will come into fruition. Starting this page was a difficult decision, but I can no longer think about myself and how it makes me look and feel but instead look at how my daughter will grow up with her father by her side, watching her grow every step of the way. These donations mean the world to me but most of all they mean more to Taylor because she will not have to wonder if her dad will be here from one day to the next. She will know that other people want to see her dad survive for her; and that means the most to myself and my family.