When I was 15, I was diagnosed with Churg-Strauss Syndrome. It is a rare autoimmune disorder that causes blood vessel inflammation. The inflammation can restrict blood flow to organs and tissue, which may permanently damage them. In my case, my kidneys failed. 

After a year of hemodialysis, my older sister, Erika, donated her kidney to me in 2011 when I was 17. 

In 2016, my body started rejecting my transplanted kidney, which was my only functioning kidney. By December 2018, my kidney function declined to the point where I needed to go back on hemodialysis. I go three times a week (~4 hour sessions) after work and the hemodialysis cleans my blood and removes the excess fluid. 

Now, at the age of 25, I will need another kidney transplant in order to survive. Because of my special condition, my transplant cannot be done where I live and so I will need to travel to the Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, CA in order to undergo my procedure. 

While Stanford was still in the process of screening some friends and family to be living donors, a cadaver donor became available so I had to travel to Stanford immediately to receive the transplant on 3/11/2020. I had been working on publishing this GoFundMe after a living donor had been selected, but I was not expecting to get the call for surgery ASAP.

I’m currently preparing for the transplant today (03/11/2020), but there is still a chance that the kidney will not be a good match and I will be sent home to wait for another living or cadaver donor. 

This kidney will help me survive and will allow me to get back to my life so that I can continue pursuing my dreams. I am starting this fundraiser to help with medical bills, travel costs, and other incidental expenses related to my transplant. If you can, please donate as every little bit helps.
 
I would also like to ask for everyone reading this to contact the DMV to update the organ donor status on your driver's license. And if you can, consider becoming a living donor to a friend or a stranger who might be in need. 

I appreciate everyone who reads this, donates, shares this, or helps to spread awareness for people like me. Thank you for everything that you have done for me! 

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." -African Proverb

donatelife.org