Stand with Katie: Support Her Post-Transplant Recovery

2nd update: Katie has been allowed to go home!! . Her white blood cell count and anti-rejection numbers have been a little dicey, but they allowed her to go home. She will have to return down to the twin cities over the next month a few times for follow ups and such. But all hopes are that they do not keep her down there. We want to thank everyone for their support, and know how much this is going to allow Katie to rest and heal. We love you all

Update: Katie is doing very well. She is on a bag-full of medicine, including anti-rejection meds. She has to stay at a hotel that is very close to the U of M. Her body is still at risk of infection, illnesses, kidney rejection, and other post-surgery side effects. She will be away from home for at least 2 weeks, and it is unknown for how long she will be away from work. Please consider helping Katie and her daughter through this hard time. Thank you.

Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read this. As many of you may know, my cousin, Katie Barras, has been struggling with a rare disease that has been causing kidney failure. They discovered this a couple of years ago, and haven’t had much luck at stopping the disease. She has been going to the doctor multiple times a week, looking for a kidney donation, and trying her best to slow down her kidney function decline.

On the 3rd of July, Katie received a call that a kidney match had been found! She had to leave work and get down to the U of M immediately. Early on the 4th of July, the wonderful doctors were able to do a kidney transplant.

So far, Katie’s body is accepting of the new kidney. However, she has to stay down by the U of M for quite some time to make sure her body does not have any difficulties with healing or rejection. Katie will be on anti-rejection medication every 12 hours. She also needs to stay away from “the world”, as all the meds cause her body to have a very low immune system. This all means she will be away from work for months.

As a single mom, she has always rocked it for her daughter. She works hard and does not ask for help often. So now I am asking for everyone's help to support Katie, so that she does not have to rush back into work, giving her body the time it needs to recover. With the financial costs of travel, new lengthy medication requirements & unknown of how long she will be out of work, any form of help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you from the bottoms of our hearts.