Help save my kidneys! Treatments til Transplant
Donation protected
Hello, I am Ashley Shankle. I'm a 32 year old mother of 2 beautiful children (My son is 5 and my daughter is 10). Five years ago after giving birth to my son, Emory Midtown hospital (Atlanta, GA) sent me home saying everything was ok. 24hours later I woke up with my entire head swollen, my eyes were swollen shut, as well as the rest of my body. I immediately went back to the ER. They ran test and diagnosed me with stage 3 kidney disease. The doctor they assigned me had placed me on over 32 medications over a course of 3 weeks. The medication were killing me. I couldn't get out of bed most days I lost all of my hair and my fingernails. I was robbed of my sons' entire first year of life. I only was able to breastfeed him for one week because I spent most of my months in the hospital from fluid overload, or medication complications.
So I started doing my own research and researched the holistic way to heal, as well as advocating for myself. I was so sick daily, often times vomiting and not being able to physically walk, and ended up not being able to work at all because I would always end up in the hospital from swelling or internal sickness by the end of the shift. Causing me to be terminated from attendance.
After years of mistreatment, my system declined significantly. I was placed on the kidney transplant list in Georgia, I was removed from the list and was recently placed back on.
So I ended up moving to another state, in hopes of receiving better care and a faster transplant. I spent a year researching herbalist and ways I can save myself. Most months I have to get iron treatments, blood transfusions, and IV treatments that are not covered by insurance. I still have not recovered from the move, so most months bills are behind because my life is more important, and the weekly treatments that I have to pay for (with no income) take from me and my family daily life. I try to stay strong but i have rough days. just to be able to provide for my kids is a struggle.
It had became a struggle to balance keeping a roof over my babies' head and the lights on, and keeping me here to provide. I am officially not afraid to ask, because I know that now, I am trying to actually SAVE MY LIFE and stay afloat until either I heal my own kidneys, or I am called for a transplant.
Anything that you donate will help me in several ways. Either my weekly kidney treatments, keeping my home and lights on, most of all keeping me stable until I am blessed with a call about a successful match.
Also, please if you find it in you, please test to see if you could be a match or even qualify to donate. I am apart of the SWAP program, which means that if you qualify but we do not have the same blood type, and another family on the list has a living donor that qualifies, but not their same blood type, all four of us would do the transplant together and cross exchange, saving both families!
Please consider it, share this, donate, pray etc. Everything is appreciated and I am beyond grateful for.
Thank you so much!
Organizer
Ashley Shankle
Organizer
Richmond, TX