Sugar's Transplant Journey

Hello and greetings from the bottom of my heart,

I come with a humble spirit and with so much gratitude in my heart, giving thanks to God for this opportunity of a second chance of life again and the

opportunity to reach out for assistance.

At the young age of 12 I was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes type 1.

I struggled being a Brittle Diabetic for the most part of my life till I was at last given the correct medication because I was being given the wrong type

of Insulin due to it being cheaper for the hospital.

Confused and conflicted I didn’t know what else to do since I thought I was doing the right thing. All the while I have been doing exactly what I was instructed to do.

Little did I know that by the time I was placed on the right type of insulin the damage of Diabetes had already settled in my system and would creep up

later in life.

As a Pastor’s daughter, I had been taught to always trust in God and now my faith would be tested and still, today I find my faith is still being tested and I’m assured that I am in God’s hands.

In 1995 I was blessed to have met my husband and get married.

In 1997 my sight was taken away from me due to Diabetic Retinopathy (retinal detachment) caused by Diabetes. In 3 short months all my sight was taken from me and I had to regain

my independence and create a new way of living.

In 1998 we were blessed to find that we were expecting our first child after being told this could never happen. Our son was born on April 16, 1998 by

an emergency caesarian due to the development of Chronic Kidney Failure

Our baby boy stayed with us for a few short hours then went to heaven where he would forever be our angel.

In 2001 an Uncle donated his kidney to me preventing me from ever having to go through Dialysis and 2 years after that I was blessed with a new Pancreas.

After 10 years of living “diabetes” free, I was placed back on insulin.

It was devastating but my faith remains strong.

After 20 years of living with a Transplanted kidney, it has now also failed and I find myself on Dialysis for the first time. This to was devastating and

I try to stay positive and keep my faith and remain strong but it is a challenge at times.

Still I remain focused on the day when God will send me a healthy Kidney.

It has now been 6.5 years on the waiting list and I continue to keep holding on to the hope that one day I will be able to leave dialysis in my past, receive a new kidney and always holding on to my faith.

Allow me to share a little

about my dialysis treatments. It is now 3 years and counting…

I awake at 3:30 A.M. each Monday, Wednesday and Friday to get to Davita Dialysis Center around 5:30

A.M. my treatment last for 3.5 hours each time, so I am off the dialyzer around 9.

My darling Daniel wakes up with me each time, I place a numbing cream on my fistula and he wraps it with saran wrap to keep the numbness in place until I get there.

We arrive to the clinic and I am weighed and from there, the tech’s will know how much toxic’s to remove from my body.

Daniel will set up my recliner but placing a sheet on it and he then will set up my oxygen machine (this is to stabilize my blood pressure)

He then continues to place the cuff around my right arm ( the fistula is on my left arm).

Once I am semi connected, the tech will come and clean off my numbing cream and places 2 needles side ways in to the fistula, by now my Daniel has left because from there, he goes directly to work.

At times the needles can be a little difficult to insert, depending on the fistula but once they have been inserted, the Dialyzer is turned on and I have started.

I sit in my chair for 3.5 hours and a lot of the times, I struggle with developing low blood pressure, which can be a challenge to complete my treatment.

My Dr. has prescribed a medication to assist with elevating my blood pressure and it helps out a lot but it can also be harmful to my heart if I take to much, so we need to be very careful.

My darling Daniel returns to pick me up.

There are days when it just wears me out, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. I have a awesome support system though and I am grateful.

I have a great family and a loving husband who is always there for me. I have a friend who calls me each time I go to treatment and she tells other’s that she is also in Dialysis. God bless her soul.

I continue to remain strong and positive through this journey, until that day when I receive my kidney.

The love & support from my Daniel is such a blessing to me because not only am I going through it but he is as well. He has sacrificed so much to be that wonderful husband to me. We are so blessed to have each other.

He is the only one who works and I get a small stipend from the state but each year it is getting more difficult to survive and keep up.

This is why I am coming to you for support. The cost is outstanding with traveling expenses, having to rent a car for every journey, rent of rooms, finding

a dependable vehicle for transportation, Medical Bills, gas to get to visits back and forth, unexpected cost of medications.

I am blessed to have a insurance but it is not the best and there will be a lot of medical bills that I will be responsible for.

This is not including the special diets I am going to have be on and still on today such as:

A Diabetic meal plan

A Renal meal plan.

Both plans are quite expensive and with the cost of food today, well it can be a bit overwhelming.

It is vital that we remain healthy and eat the right foods, to first, remain healthy enough to with stand the 3 – 4 hour surgery for transplant.

The care after will be vital as well. I will remain in the hospital up to a week, if all goes well and we are praying and trusting that it will.

All the while trying to keep up with rent and home expenses, gas and just trying to survive.

All this with a small income coming in to our home as my Daniel is my In Home Provider and my state check which barely covers’ our living expenses, as I mentioned earlier.

I realize life has it’s challenges for everyone, but as for myself, it is a bit more challenging. Not impossible just a bit more difficult, especially when I am having to manage and balance our home, medications, Diabetes and life in general with no sight.

I have always been one who enjoys cooking, cleaning and just being a wife to my husband but I am so much more than that. I enjoy to spread encouragement and help those who need a pick me up.

I am coming to all you lovely people, to ask you if you would shed a little light in our lives and reach out to assist us to help us ease our lives a little.

This is why we are depending on God to open the hearts of those who are willing to assist us for our journey to a second chance of life.

Having this second chance of life for me means, being able to enjoy what life I have left with my husband, my family and just to be happy to the best of my ability.

We are also praying that some one out there has an open heart to want to save a life, donating an organ is truly a blessing and I invite you to consider

this gesture.

Dialysis is not easy and can put a strain on one’s mental health and in all aspects of life.

I know I have many times traveled that dark tunnel but I am blessed to have a wonderful husband, supportive family and friends to be there for me.

Please, will you consider giving to my cause and know that you are indeed giving someone that second chance of life.

I know God will reward you in return.

With a humble heart I thank you in advance for the donations that is to come our way and may the good Lord bless everyone who reaches out to us.

I pray that you find a place in your hearts to donate what you can to assist us through this journey.

Thank you and God bless you,

Daniel & Sugar Lopez

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Hi I come with a humble spirit and with so much gratitude in my heart, giving thanks to God for this opportunity of a second chance of life again and the opportunity to reach out for assistance.

At the young age of 12 I was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes type 1.

I struggled being a Brittle Diabetic for the most part of my life till I was at last given the correct medication because I was being given the wrong type of Insulin due to it being cheaper for the hospital Confused and conflicted I didn’t know what else to do since I thought I was doing the right thing doing exactly what the doctor’s asked of me.

Little did I know that by the time I was placed on the right type of insulin the damage of Diabetes had already settled in my system and would creep up later in life.

In 1995 I was blessed to have met my husband and get married.

In 1997 my sight was taken away from me due to retinal detachment caused by Diabetes. In 3 short months all my sight was taken from me and I had to regain my independence and create a new way of living.

In 1998 we were blessed to find that we were expecting our first child after being told this could never happen. Our son was born on April 16, 1998 by an emergency caesarian due to the development of Chronic Kidney Failure

Our baby boy stayed with us for a few short hours then went to heaven where he would forever be our angel.

In 2001 an Uncle donated his kidney to me preventing me from ever having to go through Dialysis and 2 years after that I was blessed with a new Pancreas.

It has been 10 years now that my transplanted Pancreas has failed, forcing me to go back on Insulin.

It was devastating but my faith remains strong.

After 20 years of living with a Transplanted kidney, it has now also failed and I find myself on Dialysis for the first time. This to was devastating and I try to stay positive and keep my faith and remain strong but it is a challenge at times.

Still I remain focused on the day when God will send me a healthy Kidney and Pancreas.

It has now been 6.5 years on the waiting list and I continue to keep holding on to my faith.

It has been 3 years on dialysis and I do not wish this on anyone but I keep strong and positive.

I have my moments like everyone else.

I struggle to stay positive knowing that in reality, the Dialyzer(Machine) is what is keeping me alive. I also realize that if it was not for God, I wouldn’t be here. So I feel blessed for this opportunity to have my blood made to be stronger as I prepare myself for my upcoming transplants, Lord willing.

This is why I am coming to you for support. The cost is outstanding with traveling expenses, having to rent a car for every journey, rent of rooms, finding a dependable vehicle for transportation, Medical Bills, unexpected cost of medications and now the cost of meals due to the Renal meals I have to eat to keep strong while on Dialysis.

All the while trying to keep up with rent and home expenses, gas and just trying to survive.

All this with a small income coming in to our home as my Daniel is my In Home Provider and my state check which barely covers’ our living expenses.

Managing and balancing our home, medications, life in general with no sight is a challenge we face every day.

This is why we are depending on God to open the hearts of those who are willing to assist us for our journey to a second chance of life.

We are also praying that some one out there has an open heart to want to save a life, donating an organ is truly a blessing and I invite you to consider this gesture.

Dialysis is not easy and can put a strain on one’s mental health and in all aspects of life.

I know I have many times traveled that dark tunnel but I am blessed to have a wonderful husband, supportive family and friends to be there for me.

With a humble heart I thank you in advance for the donations that is to come our way and may the good Lord bless everyone who reaches out to us.

I pray that you find a place in your hearts to donate what you can to assist us through this journey.

Thank you and God bless you,

Daniel & Sugar Lopez