Anyone who has been lucky enough to have Kasandra as part of their life knows the medical challenges she has faced and the strength that she possesses, as she keeps pushing forward through every obstacle thrown her way.

Diagnosed with dyskeratosis congenita, a rare blood disease at 15, this led to additional diagnoses of aplastic anemia, bone marrow failure and osteoporosis. After undergoing a bone marrow transplant, her health improved and remained stable for 11 years. After some random, unexpected back pain led her back to the doctors, she was diagnosed with kidney failure and is currently on dialysis, three days a week and has been fighting to get on the kidney donor list. Getting on the donor list recently came to a pause as she was then diagnosed with bladder cancer which needed to be resolved before any next steps could be taken. Kas was treated for the bladder cancer and finds out at her next appointment in the beginning of May whether the surgery to remove the cancer was successful or not and if she can continue the process of getting on the donor list. Due to everything Kas has faced, she is more susceptible to infection and has had a lot of hospital visits recently as a result of peritonitis infections, which is common in those who have catheters due to peritoneal dialysis.

If you know Kas, you know that she is one of the most considerate, caring and inspiring people you will have the privilege of meeting. She has been with her boyfriend, Trey, for 4 years and has unwavering support from him and her close-knit family. She loves spending her free time with her family and her fur babies. She works as a dental assistant at Leominster Family Dentists and she shows up every single day that she can, always wanting to be surrounded by and helpful to her team and patients.

While we understand that not everyone is able to provide help in the aspect of testing to see if they are a potential match for a kidney donation, we can help Kas in other ways. Due to everything she has going on, Kas has to be out of work more often than she’d like and she has significant medical bills that, unfortunately, her insurance does not cover. Any little bit will help, and even sharing her story will mean more than you could possibly know.

If you are interested in learning more about kidney donation, you can read more by clicking on the following link - https://www.nkr.org/CQT924.