Tina's Transplant Fund

My sister, Tina was 9 years old when she became very sick. It was appendicitis, or so the doctors thought. After the removal of her appendix she still remained very ill.  The doctors weren't really sure what was wrong with her and so she was diagnosed with childhood nephrotic syndrome, the closest thing that could explain what was happening to her kidneys. She has a progressive disease that is incurable. Over the next 17 years her nephrologist did his best to slow the failure of her kidneys. However, in 2003 there was no getting around the fact that her kidneys were in failure. Both of her kidneys were removed and she started dialysis. My husband, her brother-in-law, Mike offered to get tested to see if he would be an eligible match. It was with some surprise that it was determined Mike was actually a very viable match. In September of 2003 Tina received her new kidney. The recovery was rough and for awhile there was some fear her body was trying to reject her new kidney. Thankfully she got better and that single kidney gave her an additional 14 years. Donor organs don't last forever and over the last year and a half it became apparent that her donor kidney was starting to fail. Tina had to start dialysis again and went on the transplant list. This time around her husband, Chris offered to get tested to see if he was an eligible donor. In September Tina received confirmation that Chris would be able to donate a kidney. After being on dialysis for the past 6 months and final preparations and testing the time has come for Tina to undergo her second transplant.

There is no transplant center in Idaho. Tina, Chris and myself will be headed to Seattle in December to have the transplant performed at Swedish Medical Center. The average cost for a kidney transplant is $17,000. I am hoping to raise funds for Tina and Chris to help offset the cost of transportation, loss of wages for Chris, as well as the medical cost of the transplant. Any amount helps.

Please consider donating so that my sister can have another chance at a life.