Lisa's Kidney Transplant

Boy, when Seth and I decided we had "met our match" in each other almost 15 years ago, we had no idea how true that really was!

As most of you know by now, despite the fact that I have high antibodies (making it difficult for me to find a match), Seth has been approved to be my donor, my hero! Although he was confident that he would be from the start (he's an optimist by nature, after all!), I was only cautiously optimistic (which is a stretch for me, lol), and so on some level, it's still really hard for me to believe I could be so lucky.  But it's happening, and now transplant is right around the corner!

Today, we went to a class at Cedars especially for patients like me that have high antibodies.  Luckily for me, Cedars is one of two hospitals in the country that pioneered ground breaking pre-transplant drug protocols that are effective at "quieting" antibodies so that they don't attack transplanted kidneys.  Before these protocols (only introduced in 1990), patients like me had little or no hope of even getting a transplant!  

The protocol that I will have will require IV infusions as well as drugs to be administered during dialysis over the course of a couple of months, which is why I can't be transplanted sooner than June.  Unfortunately, these treatments also have their share of side effects, the most concerning for me being headaches (especially for the headache prone, which I am) that can last up to 72 hours.  There's also fever, nausea, and vomiting, for extra fun!

Until now, I have continued to book clients through mid June, as I have been ok to work while on dialysis, and I wanted to make as much money as possible before transplant.  But now, with these treatments and the unknown side effects starting, I'm going to have to stop doing that.  And after transplant, both Seth and I will be out of work for 2 months, if not three or more.

I've done lots of fundraisers for others in the last five years, but I never imagined I'd be asking for help for myself!  And I thought long and hard before sitting down to create this campaign.  I really did want to be able to work as much as possible up until transplant, but it's just not going to work out like I planned.  And as many of you in our industries know, when you're not working, you're not earning.  While there are many advantages to our jobs, this is one of the disadvantages.  

We live a simple life,  so we don't have a ton of expenses.  Insurance will cover most of our medical expenses, but while both of us are not working, we will still need to pay our portion of our private insurance premium, and we will need to pay our household expenses.  You know, life.  And post transplant, there will also be about 12 meds I'll be on for the rest of my life (!).  And to be honest, I guess the biggest help will be the psychological  benefit of not having to worry as much about finances while we are healing up.

Many of our friends are in the same boat as we are, so we understand that not everyone can and will give, and that's ok! But we have also had a lot of people express an interest in contributing, so we decided to move forward with this campaign. We will be forever grateful for any help we receive.  All money raised will be used for household expenses, medical expenses, and the ocassional take out order from our favorite restaurants while we are recuperating. 

As difficult as parts of it have been, this has been an incredible journey that has taught me so much, strengthened my marriage and my already incredible love and appreciation for Seth, and made me grateful for all of you and for every day!

Wishing you health, love and joy!

Lisa