Hello everyone, my name is Thaying. I'm creating this page for my younger sister Mee, whom we all call Amee.

We are fundraising to cover the cost of building a ramp, which we were recently quoted $10,000. With the money raised we hope to build a ramp and cover other additional health related costs she's incurred.

Amee, who is deaf and visually impaired, is living with end stage renal failure. Where she completes dialysis three days a week. Many times after dialysis she is left so exhausted she is unable to stand let alone climb the stairs to get to her bedroom.

In June of 2025, she broke her ankle. For others this may not be that significant, but for Amee it has changed her life. Amee has neuropathy, nerve damage in both legs and uses a walker to get around. She also has osteoporosis, a condition that makes her bones very weak. Although slowly healing, four months later she is still in a cast and uses her wheelchair. Unable to put pressure on her foot. She cannot go upstairs to sleep in her bedroom nor use the bathroom that normally fits her walker. What little independence she has worked hard to gain is now gone. We hope with a ramp she will be able to sleep in her bed again, sit with family and friends in the living room, and have some privacy.

Her journey with chronic health illnesses these past six years has been a difficult one. Full of unknowns, pain, and loss. Please pray for Amee as she continues to heal, for strength, renewed hope, and peace in her heart. Please continue to read if you'd like to hear more of her story.

Thank you for taking your time to read about Amee and how you can support her.

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My Story

Hi everyone, my name is Amee. I am 36 years old. To explain everything that I’ve gone through these past few years is a long story. But one I want to share, because oftentimes it has felt very lonely. I know sometimes people want to ask, but don’t know how to have that conversation with me. I also want others to know about my story, so that they too can take care of their health.

Before I got sick, I worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant and had just passed my certification to be a Trained Medication Aide. I was excited because I had studied really hard. I loved reading books. The Twilight series was my favorite. I taught Sunday School and helped with Children Ministry at my church. I looked forward to wearing my Hmong clothes every year for Hmong New Year in MN. I loved listening to K-pop and watching Korean dramas, and even got to travel to South Korea in 2017.

In 2019, I had a procedure to drain a deep cyst in my back. The pain medicine they gave me caused my heart to stop. They had to do CPR, and shocked my heart back. Then it just seemed like everything in my body stopped working after that. That same year, I was hospitalized multiple times for low hemoglobin. They would give me blood transfusions at the hospital, send me home, and schedule a follow up appointment. A few days later, I would black out at home and take the ambulance back to the ER. Those six months or so were a blur. Shortly after this I found out my kidneys weren’t working. I had to start dialysis right away. Because of what happened to me at the hospital I was really scared to be there without my family and cried to my father that I only wanted to try peritoneal dialysis, so I could do it at home while I was sleeping. That lasted one year, before I got an infection at the port and transitioned to doing dialysis with a fistula at the hospital. I currently go three times a week for about 4-5 hours.

Around New Years day 2020, I woke up and heard nothing from my left ear. My dad took me to the hospital; they tried lots of things but nothing brought back my hearing. A few months later I lost hearing in my right ear. I was so confused and scared. I remembered crying so hard that morning my parents couldn’t understand that I was trying to tell them I could no longer hear anything. Again, nothing worked. My doctors scheduled a cochlear implant surgery, but then Covid happened and all non-essential surgeries were stopped. I went almost two years, unable to hear. I felt really helpless. I relied on my family for everything. Many thought I could no longer talk or that I was even brain damaged. It felt like people forgot I was there. I saw many people who didn’t even try to interact with me. I felt very alone. I remember doing a bone marrow test where my older sister held up her phone, so we could use an app to transcribe what the nurses were saying, because I was deaf now in both ears. I went two years unable to hear. Finally, in April of 2022 I was able to have cochlear earplant surgery.

My vision also started to go bad. I was told my retina was detached in my right eye. Now I’m only able to see a bit from my left eye. I was also told I had primary ovarian failure. This meant I couldn’t have kids. Out of my sisters, I always dreamed of getting married and having children. I was really sad, but I couldn’t dwell on this, my body was still failing in many other ways. I was just always so exhausted. I was depressed, anxious, and lonely. The times I was hospitalized I was by myself. With Covid my family couldn't stay the night with me. Time was just frozen. I was always worried. I didn’t know what was wrong, and things kept piling up. It seemed to get worse every time.

In June of 2021, I was turning 32. My sisters had planned a birthday party that would take place outdoors and I would be masked. I was so excited because it’d been a while since I saw my friends. I missed socializing and being around others. But the week before the party I got an infection in my dialysis port and ended up in the hospital. We had to cancel the party. On my birthday my sisters decorated my hospital room, brought a cake, and I got to blow out candles. They brought all the gifts my friends had dropped off. I wondered how many more birthdays I’d get or if the next one I’d be around family and friends.

My doctors were confused because, although I had type 2 diabetes, they had not seen a young person like me have all these health issues spiral this fast to this level. I’ve done so many blood tests, procedures, and genetic tests, but they haven’t given us any clear answers. I’ve been told I could have these diseases or these conditions, but nothing they could really diagnose. One doctors could diagnose me with was IgA autoimmune disease. This meant my body was attacking my kidneys.

I had osteoporosis, but couldn’t be treated because of my kidneys. With being sick so often, and spending weeks in and out of the hospital, my muscles got really weak. My neuropathy made it hard to balance, and I was at fall risk. During those years I was in and out of the hospital my name was inactive on the kidney transplant list. They said even if I got a kidney I wasn’t healthy enough to maintain it. Slowly working with occupational therapy and physical therapy I regained more strength and endurance. As I started to stabilize, I became a bit more independent around the home using my walker. I could go on family walks, go to the store, and watch a movie at the theaters with the help of an audio device.

I’ve worked really hard these past few years. This year my name became active again on the kidney transplant list. That’s why I was pretty devastated when I broke my ankle in June. I worried this would affect my status on the list. Every month since I’ve gone in for an x-ray, hoping that my ankle would be healed. This past August, my little sister got married. I was looking forward to walking with my walker as one of her bridesmaids. Disappointed, I was still in a cast and had to be wheeled up the aisle. It’s been hard to be patient and hold onto hope.

I don’t know how long it’ll be before I can stand, and walk again. How long before I’m called because they found a kidney match. How long before I can feel like me again. I dream and pray that I will get a kidney soon, so that I can take stronger medicine to help with my other health problems. There’s so much I still hope to do.

I hold onto my hope in God. It’s been hard, but I know he brought people into my life to help bring me through it. I thank my parents and siblings for taking a lot of their time to help me. My parents have sacrificed so much for me. Many people tell me I have really good siblings and that they married really good people who show me patience and kindness. I’m grateful that my family make time for me. Time is the greatest gift you’ve all given me. I wish I could remove this burden I’ve added to your lives. I wish I could be a blessing to you in all the ways I’ve always wanted to be.

Thank you for reading my story and being a part of it.

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What is end stage renal disease? https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/end-stage-renal-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20354532

What is IgA autoimmune disease? https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/iga-nephropathy/symptoms-causes/syc-20352268

Hmong People and Kidney Disease https://www.kidney.org/news-stories/how-minnesota-s-hmong-community-raising-kidney-disease-awareness

Treatment Options for Chronic Kidney Disease - Hmong Language

https://www.allinahealth.org/-/media/allina-health/files/health-conditions-and-treatments/health-library/patient-education/chronic-kidney-hmong.pdf