Katie's Kidney Adventure
Donation protected
When I was 8 years old I had surgery to correct some of my inner workings. There was alot of damage done to my kidneys in the process and I was told i would need a transplant at some point.
When I was 27, "some point" became reality. I recieved a kidney from my cousins wife. It was the greatest gift i had ever recieved. I cherish her bravery and always will!
When I was 30, I was hospitalized for 12 days for a major kidney infection, kidney rejection and basically a kidney shut-down. I went through treatment after treatment, most of them, we discovered I was allergic to. I had tubes put into my chest for Plasmapherisis treatments, I HATED THOSE TUBES! The treatment was painless, the tubes had an emotional effect on me that is too hard to explain. In the end, the tubes came out, the kidney fuction improved but it never went back to normal.
Fast forward two years, I was getting remarried to a man who is supportive, kind, and for a long time I was convinced it was all a dream, but a few monthes before our wedding my lab results suggested another rejection. I had to have a kidney biopsy. After, a few hysterical stories about what i said and did while being heavily drugged, (HA HA HA!) we found out i was again in rejection. I had a picc line put in and did IVIG treatments in our living room. The picc line came out a week before the wedding, the bruise it left behind was just a reminder that i survived.
All that being said, I need a new kidney! I currently have medicare and they require $20,000 before a patient is even placed on the active transplant list. I am on the list, however, i am currently not elligibe for a kidney until i have the funds. I will be starting dialysis early 2015, as I just had my dialysis fistula created.
I know this was long and detailed. I know that $20,000 is alot of money. However, that is why this is an adventure. Its an adventure for all of us. I may have done this once already but this time is very different. It's an adventure and I invite you all to join me!
When I was 27, "some point" became reality. I recieved a kidney from my cousins wife. It was the greatest gift i had ever recieved. I cherish her bravery and always will!
When I was 30, I was hospitalized for 12 days for a major kidney infection, kidney rejection and basically a kidney shut-down. I went through treatment after treatment, most of them, we discovered I was allergic to. I had tubes put into my chest for Plasmapherisis treatments, I HATED THOSE TUBES! The treatment was painless, the tubes had an emotional effect on me that is too hard to explain. In the end, the tubes came out, the kidney fuction improved but it never went back to normal.
Fast forward two years, I was getting remarried to a man who is supportive, kind, and for a long time I was convinced it was all a dream, but a few monthes before our wedding my lab results suggested another rejection. I had to have a kidney biopsy. After, a few hysterical stories about what i said and did while being heavily drugged, (HA HA HA!) we found out i was again in rejection. I had a picc line put in and did IVIG treatments in our living room. The picc line came out a week before the wedding, the bruise it left behind was just a reminder that i survived.
All that being said, I need a new kidney! I currently have medicare and they require $20,000 before a patient is even placed on the active transplant list. I am on the list, however, i am currently not elligibe for a kidney until i have the funds. I will be starting dialysis early 2015, as I just had my dialysis fistula created.
I know this was long and detailed. I know that $20,000 is alot of money. However, that is why this is an adventure. Its an adventure for all of us. I may have done this once already but this time is very different. It's an adventure and I invite you all to join me!
Organizer
Katie Johnson
Organizer
Lynchburg, VA