My daughter is in stage 5 kidney failure. She is preparing for Peritoneal dialysis and ultimately a kidney and pancreas transplant in San Francisco. I am raising funds to cover medical and travel expenses to California Pacific Medical Center for tests and surgery. This will be a long journey for her and the family:

At 16 years old, she learned what it meant to grow up fast.

Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at an age when most teenagers are focused on school dances and driver’s licenses, she stepped into a lifelong routine of responsibility. This was before closed-loop insulin pumps or continuous glucose monitors. Managing her health meant constant finger sticks, careful calculations, and self-administered insulin injections before and after every meal — every day, without pause.

She did it anyway. For twenty years.

Today, she is 36 years old, married, and the proud mom of an incredible 11-year-old son who is the center of her world. She lives in Northern California and works as a medical assistant, caring for others even while quietly carrying the weight of her own health challenges. Her compassion, resilience, and work ethic are felt by everyone who knows her.

But in 2025, the long-term effects of diabetes caught up with her in ways no amount of discipline could prevent.

Damage to her vision required major surgeries — a vitrectomy in one eye and cataract surgery in the other. And more critically, years of strain on her body have led to stage 5 kidney failure. Her kidneys are failing, and without a transplant, her future is uncertain.

Her Team of doctors feel she is an excellent candidate to receive a kidney / pancreas transplant. This would change everything - giving her more years of being present for her son’s milestones. More ordinary moments that are anything but ordinary: school events, weekend mornings, family dinners, laughter without exhaustion looming in the background.

She has spent her life managing what could be controlled and meeting every challenge with strength. Now she faces something she cannot do alone.