Hi, my name is Nicki and three years ago my mom, Kathy Koeser (nee Rietz), suffered a stroke that landed her in the hospital for almost a week. Soon after she discovered she had stage four kidney disease and needed a new kidney. Thankfully, her doctors were quick to get her onto the transplant list, and so long as her kidney function stayed stable, she could even get by without dialysis. However, she soon encountered many unexpected side effects of both the stroke and kidney disease. Not only did she develop diabetic retinopathy, greatly affecting her eyesight, but she also developed diabetic neuropathy. Because of this, a simple sore in her foot very quickly snowballed into a full-on infection in both her foot and leg. The infection of her leg landed her in the hospital for another prolonged stay and after she was released, she continued to require IV antibiotics daily for months.

Despite kicking this infection, she would soon get yet another infection that would lead to the eventual amputation of multiple toes and would kick her off the transplant list until her foot was fully healed. As if that wasn't bad enough, the infection caused additional damage to her kidneys that would force her to have dialysis three times a week.

After months and months of working toward healing her foot, she was finally deemed fit to go back onto the transplant list in late 2022. While my family and I are incredibly grateful to her doctors for getting her to this point, it was soon made apparent how much more went into this process than we expected. Her transplant is being done in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at Sanford, and following her operation, she will have to stay in Sioux Falls for 4-6 weeks. As our home base is in Sioux City, Iowa, this causes some logistical difficulties.

She is incredibly fortunate to have an insurance plan that will completely (or almost completely) cover the surgery itself, as well as the follow-up doctor's appointments and she has also been recently told that the apartment or hotel room she will be staying in should be covered. However, we will still need to cover many other costs.

First and foremost, transportation. My mom will require someone to be with her 24/7, and my dad and I are planning on alternating weeks of staying with her. This will require us to make multiple trips between Sioux City and Sioux Falls. In addition to this, we will also be required to provide our own food and many household essentials, all while still paying our usual bills at home.

Money is tight under usual circumstances and with these upcoming complications, my family is rightfully concerned. We want to focus on my mom and her healing, and we don't want my mom to be worried about the extra expenses we will have. Anything anyone can donate would be greatly appreciated and will go straight into her operation's nest egg. I can promise you my family would forever be grateful for anything you can give.