Im Lanie Hope; a 23 year old fighter and I’ve been in Kidney Failure since i was 4yrs old, I’ve had more operations than i care to remember, and i have scars all over my body that each tell a different story from my journey. Originally i got E.Coli, but when i went to the hospital they treated me for the wrong thing - a parasite i didn’t have. The medications they were giving me, caused ‘Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome’ (HUS) which caused my kidneys to shut down rapidly… I was care flighted to Oaklands Children Hospital, where I did dialysis treatment for 8 weeks. Despite doctor’s opinions, I regained function and was able to go the next 14 years taking heavy medications and going to regular nephrologist appointments. Sadly, the summer of 2020 after graduating high school; i started getting very sick. By the time i was 18, i had an emergency catheter placed into my stomach and by January 2021, i was on peritoneal dialysis (PD) for 9 hours every night at home. I was able to do this treatment for about a year before a routine doctor’s appointment sent me to the ER - an emergency catheter (CVC) was placed through my chest and into my heart. The PD wasn’t being aggressive enough and i was getting very sick, very fast!

This catheter now meant i had to go into a center for Hemodialysis, where they would use the CVC in my heart to filter my blood through a machine. It not a long term solution (typically 6 months max) because of how high risk for infection it is. I did that treatment for 1 year & 5 months, which is unheard of - but i kept it clean. The end of 2022 and the year 2023 was the hardest year i had yet. I started having Grand Mal seizures. They consisted of full body convulsions, losing consciousness, anger & confusion, 0 depth perception, losing vision, feeling like you were in a dream and you couldn’t scream or speak to save yourself. I lost weeks of memory and time, I felt like i was never safe and was never myself. The scariest seizure i had was 8 minutes long, and included all of all those symptoms. I would watch my life flash before me, like watching a movie in slow motion, and in the time its happening you make peace because there’s nothing that feels like it will save you quick enough. I was in ICU 9 times, and intubated 7 times, and had countless hospital visits trying to figure out what was going on and what caused them. Eventually they came to the conclusion it was my kidney disease, and my blood getting too toxic for my brain or body to handle. I was 86lbs and barely making it treatment to treatment.

In all of the craziness we decided my best chance at survival would be to build an AV fistula, and take the CVC out of my heart. The fistula took 3 separate surgeries, because i was so vascular comprised. My veins were too tiny; they had to bring one from the center of my arm, to the surface, then they merged it with an artery and we hoped and prayed it would work. After 8 weeks of waiting for it to ‘mature’ it was stable. I was very reluctant to hemodialysis with a fistula because they had to put 2; 15 gauge needles into my bicep every time (which is comparable to a caprisun straw). I started going for 4 hour treatments Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in center. Once treatment was solid with my fistula, it was time to take out the CVC; i didn’t need an emergency port, when they had my arm. The removal of the CVC was one of the most painful surgeries i had ever endured. A CVC is a central venous catheter that is inserted into my chest, and guided into the superior vena cava better known as the right atrium in your heart. What they don’t tell you when they remove these, is you are wide awake, they give you topical lidocaine and then they use all their mite to rip it out of your chest. No procedure, no medication, just sheer strength in the middle of the preop room.

Through the last 5 years i have developed a very high pain tolerance not because i wanted to, but because i had to. I have continued hemodialysis treatments using my fistula every week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 4 hours every time, getting stabbed 12 times a week. Getting a kidney will give me the chance to live again, i have dreams and goals that have been put on pause, I’ve been contained to a box and a machine and i am so much more than that. I’ve worked full time through all of this trying to keep my independence, but have nothing to show for it.. I’ve been on multiple transplant lists, one as long as 5 years, and haven’t gotten close to the top. In march of this year we were blessed that a transplant center opened in Renown, the hospital that has been my saving grace the last 5 years. I was one of the first people put on their list, and things started moving quickly. Despite the medical challenges my mom herself has had in the past, started getting tested immediately. Countless machines, imaging, blood work and physical tests were done over the course of a month and on July 17th by the graces of our creator my mom, Melanie Davis was a match. She would be giving me her left kidney. Donations given wont only be for me, it will be for my mom as well, and both of our bills while we are in the hospital recovering for the next 3 months. Any and all kindness is greatly appreciated, thank you so much for reading my testimony.