Kidney Pancreas Double Transplant Surgery

So at first glance, on the outside, I don't look like I have anything wrong with me. But on the inside, I have a mess of medical issues. It all started when I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in February 2005. I was 12 years old and it was hard to hear that my life was about to change forever. I did great for a while (testing my own blood sugars and giving my own insulin shots). But then the realization came to me that I was different from my family and friends and at that age I didn't want to be different. I just wanted to fit in. So as I became a teenager, my diabetes control got worse and worse until I just kind of gave up altogether. Well at first I felt fine, no issues so I thought I can just live my life normal. I was wrong. I had no idea all the damage that was going on inside my body at that time.

My wake up call came a few years later when me and my mom signed up for a long bike ride to support Type 1 diabetics. I struggled so bad and almost passed out mid way. I decided I need to get my shit together. I was diligent. Testing multiple times a day, never missing a shot, listening to my body. But it was too late, the damage was done. 

First came the neuropathy, an intense pain that shot from my back down to my toes that had me couch ridden for four months until we found a doctor who could help.  Treatment consisted of me getting three  needle shots of medicine in each ankle three times a week and using TENS socks. After a few months, the pain went away and I was happy. I thought that was all...nope.

Next came the retinopathy. When I tell you how scary it is to be at work looking at your computer screen and all of a sudden you see red. I was terrified. I went to a retina doctor and found out treatment for retinopathy is needle shots in the eyeball every six weeks to control the bleeding. I currently still do this because I had a particularly bad bleed at school one day and I still can't see out of my left eye. This also caused me to have to drop out of my program at school which broke my heart because I worked so hard to get in it in the first place.

Now the worst, and the main reason I am asking for assistance is the kidney failure I am going through. It started in 2019 and we had no idea that's what it was. I was just getting so swollen in my legs, feet and ankles.  Getting winded at the simpliest tasks.  My blood pressure was dangerously high where I have NEVER had that issue before. And I was having a constant pain in my lower back.  My PCP did some blood tests and determined I needed to see a nephrologist. That is a kidney specialist. She is amazing and had me feeling a little better with lots of medications and adjusting the dosages. But no matter how hard we tried, my kidney function kept getting lower and lower, and I kept feeling sicker and sicker. One of the hardest things is doing everything you can to keep yourself alive, and your own body trying to kill itself. So we made the decision in June 2020 to start peritoneal dialysis, This will serve two purposes. One, to protect my heart so that when organs become available I can get my double transplant and it will make it a safer procedure. And two, to help make me feel a bit more normal on a day to day basis. I have been pretending I feel ok for a while now, with only people close to me knowing what I'm going through, but I'm smart enough to know I can't do it alone.  Then I august 2021 peritoneal stopped working completely. Even though I was taking precautions I still got Covid. If you look it up it’s tragic for your kidneys. So then I had to move to in center dialysis. Let me tell you I have NEVER been so miserable in my entire life. I had to have a surgery to take my tube out of my stomach, and an additional one to put a different site put I  my chest. About a week after I started in center one of the nurses got me septic and I almost died. If I wasn’t young and resilient I would have. So they changed my site again and the treatments continued. Now I recently have new symptoms on treatment days where I feel like someone is stabbing me in the head as soon as I get hooked up to the machine. Also my BPs are all 200s over 130s (which is stroke level) and my doctor won’t even talk to me or help. I’m so scared they are going to kill me and I don’t know what to do. Having this kidney pancreas surgery will mean a brand new life for me! No more diabetes, no more kidney disease, no more pain, no more dialysis. I will finally be normal. I'be been told I can't have children unless I get this done, and those that know me know I've always been meant to one day have a family of my own. I know I am asking a large amount monetarily, but any little bit helps. And if you can't donate in that way, if you can share my story with other people that would be appreciated too! 

If anyone has any questions, dont hesitate to ask. I am an open book and being very vulnerable putting all this out there, so please no judgements or negativity. I have enough to deal with already.  Thank you!

<3 Chelle