Hi, my name is Natalie, and this is my daughter Phoebe's story. At the beginning of this year, 2025, Phoebe began not feeling well. With stomach bug and everything else that is going around these days I didn't think too much of it. But when symptoms kept persisting, I was finally able to get her a doctor's appointment at the beginning of April. The doctor sent us immediately to the ER. Once there, at the ER, bloodwork was taken, and the news was not so good. They could not do a CT scan with contrast due to her kidneys. Her kidneys were failing her. I can't even express the devastation I was feeling. I just was in utter shock that my seemingly healthy 12-year-old was in kidney failure. We were then air flighted to the children's hospital 45 mins away. I have a fear of flying but that night I flew with, my baby. When we finally reached the children's hospital we were taken to their ER. After a long time in the ER, it was determined that she had something obstructing in her bladder which caused her bladder to fill to the max and backed up into her kidneys. After many, many questions about her history of illnesses and bladder related incidents and many tests later. We finally were able to get a diagnosis. It was not a tumor but a birth defect that wasn't caught when she was younger. She just didn't fully develop and the older she became the harder it was for her to fully empty her bladder. I didn't know she wasn't emptying fully because she didn't know she wasn't. The doctors explained that this was normal to her, and she couldn't tell me that she wasn't emptying fully. She also had no pain associated with any of this. The doctors also checked all of her nerves, and they are perfectly fine. The only thing they could tell me is that she must have a high pain tolerance. Unfortunately, even though we eventually caught it, it had still done its damage. Phoebe has End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). They thought maybe her kidneys might bounce back because of her age but, unfortunately, they did not. She spent a month in the children's hospital, where she had many procedures to try to correct some of her damage. She has had many procedures, and they have all been successful, but at this moment she having to do dialysis 3 times a week. We have finally been officially put on the transplant list. While we never want to think of one of our children needing a transplant, we couldn't have been happier yesterday when we received that news.

We have to travel 2 1/2 hours there and back because that is the closet children's hospital. I take her twice a week and my husband takes her the third time. My husband and I both work full time jobs and he holds the insurance for us all because I am self-employed. Unfortunately, insurance will not pay for all of her transplant. I understand that everyone is having hard times right now and I never want anyone to feel like that have to donate anything. All donations will go toward paying for what the insurance will not cover and some of her medical bills. If all you can offer is a prayer for her, we will take it! She needs all the prayers she can get!