My daughter's lifelong journey of survival and perseverance has hit a roadblock. Teniya is a full-time medical assistant working in Ophthalmology, a loving mother to a 17-year-old daughter, Divinity, and a devoted wife of 12 years to her husband Jesse (high school sweetheart). She has been in a battle her whole life with issues with her kidneys due initially to renal reflux, diagnosed as a child, and progressed to complete kidney failure by her late teens. She has been on dialysis for the last 17 years. She was given a kidney which her body rejected and has been on the waiting list for the past 12 years, hoping for that miracle match that could save her life. She has been a fighter and beat every obstacle placed before her and found a way to succeed in life regardless of the mountain placed in front of her every day. She has passed all milestones and predictions the medical field has given her and built an impressive resume along the way.

Last year, she was diagnosed with viral meningitis secondary to shingles that hospitalized her in isolation for a month. This depleted their small family's savings and put them in debt. Returning to work full-time after being cleared by her medical team, they were dedicated and were able to crawl out of the setback only to be surprised this month with an infection in her dialysis port leading to hospitalization and emergency abdominal surgery. The outcome of this surgery created a situation where she can no longer do dialysis at home at night and she has to return to a dialysis center 3 times a week and have a much rougher and longer recovery time after every session. This will affect her ability to maintain employment and honestly she needs to take some time to fully recover and prepare for her next journey.

Prior to this current emergency, Teniya was accepted to a program at Cedars Sinai which would desensitize her antibodies allowing her body to fully accept a kidney and not reject it. For the first time in her life, she would be able to live a normal life without the encumbrance of dialysis and the uncertainty of going into sepsis. This is on hold while she heals. Which leads to why I am organizing this GoFundMe. She needs time to heal and this means she will be unable to work. This all came at a hard time as the family was saving for the upcoming procedures as well as preparing for Divinity to graduate high school and begin her journey of higher education. Jesse works full-time and the family is involved in their community via church and Divinity's being a member of her high school band. I know Teniya is a fighter and she will see her way to the other side of this current situation. However, after 30+ years of her doing this on her own without asking for help or having her hand out, she finds herself in a situation where we have to ask for help and realize she cannot do all this on her own.

She is deeply grateful for the support from her community and those who would like to help her get through this ordeal and continue her path of healing. This will help to ease the stress and uncertainty ahead of her and give her and her family the ability to concentrate on her path of healing and recovery.