Dear Friends,

Some of you may know that I have stage 4 kidney disease. Over time, my kidney disease has gotten worse, causing my kidneys not to work well enough to keep me alive. This is what I am facing now, and my treatment options are limited to dialysis treatments or a kidney transplant.

You might not know a lot about living donation - I know I didn’t before kidney disease affected my life. Understandably, some people are afraid about the surgery and what living with one kidney will mean for them. Here’s some basic information about kidney donation:

You only need one kidney to live a healthy, long life.

Most donor surgery is done laparoscopically, meaning through tiny incisions.

The recuperation period is usually fairly quick, generally two weeks.

My name is Kandie. I was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney disease last month. I spent 2 1/2 weeks in the hospital in August. I am told that I will soon need to start dialysis and need to be put on the transplant list for a kidney. I am on way more medication than I would like to take. My heart is under stress, and I'm doing my best to stay positive.

If you are willing and able, my family and I would appreciate any and all help financially, and if you are willing to be tested to see if you are a match and would be willing to donate a kidney, we would be eternally grateful! My blood type is A+. Here are the testing procedures for living donors:

Testing Involved in the Living Donor Evaluation Process

The living donor evaluation process involves a series of tests to ensure the donor is healthy enough to donate a kidney. These tests include:

Blood tests: To check overall health, especially kidney and liver health.

Urine tests: To assess kidney function.

Tissue typing: To determine compatibility between the donor and recipient.

Crossmatching: To check for antibodies that could cause rejection of the donated kidney.

Antigen matching: To ensure the donor's antigens are compatible with the recipient's.

Renal arteriogram: An X-ray of the kidneys to check for vascular disease.

Psychosocial evaluation: To assess mental health and readiness to donate.

Gynecological and cancer screening: For female donors and to check for cancer risk factors.

These tests are crucial for ensuring the safety and success of the donation process.

I am a mom to 3 wonderful children and 2 adopted children that I love as my own. I have a loving husband that is the most selfless person that I know. As most of you know, Niels lives and works in Denmark and comes home when he can. It is very hard to be apart, but we make the best of our situation. My wish is to have quality of life and spend as much time with those I love before it's too late.

My goal and reason for this GoFundMe is to fund anything medical not covered by insurance or to take over if my insurance caps out. I need help with any related medical expense due to my failing health. Please consider donating to help me and my family during this crisis.

If you can't donate, please lift me up in prayer, and we know that God is still in the prayer-answering business.

Thank you for taking time to read my story, donating, praying, and wishing me well.