Kristen's having a kidney transplant soon!

October 20, 2023 :

Hi, my name is Leah Montgomery, and I have been a bestie of Kristen's for close to 20yrs. She is going through some really rough times and she needs our help. About 6 weeks ago, Kristen came down with walking pneumonia that worsened to full blown pneumonia and then she ended up in ICU. Not because of the pneumonia, but because her kidneys had shut down. She spent almost 2 weeks in ICU and had to start hemodialysis. Her kidneys have not recovered, and she has been discharged home on hemodialysis 3x a week. In case things don't go as we pray and hope, we are also looking at the probability that she may need to undergo a kidney transplant. Kristen is currently doing Mon-Wed-Fri 5am hemodialysis sessions that are 4hrs each. Each treatment leaves her physically drained, nauseous, light-headed, and with sea-legs. Imagine having every drop of your own blood going out of your body and through a machine to clean it and filter all the toxins out of the blood that your body can no longer do, and then filtered back into your body. This is what happens with each treatment. And since her body cannot manage some of the electrolytes in her blood, these have to be adjusted with the dialysis treatment and can cause other issues for her as well to endure after the treatment. She is having to change her way of eating and drinking due to being a renal patient. She is not able to work at this time, and moving forward, it may be a couple days a week at best.

Kristen is a mother to 3 amazing young adults. Her eldest daughter, Emily, has stepped up and is helping as much as she can with her Mom. She lives on her own and works in Austin. Kristen's son, Wren, is in the Army and currently finishing up training and will be stationed outside of Texas when he graduates this phase of Army Ranger training. Her youngest daughter, Elle, is in college at LSU. Kristen has always been a provider. She has never relied on anyone to provide for her and the kids. So being in this current position, is really tough on Kristen. She is really wanting to get back to work and being able to provide for herself and her kids, but we keep reminding her that she needs to focus on herself getting stronger and healthier and letting us help her for a change in the mean time.

So.... this is where we all come in. Kristen needs our financial support to help keep her afloat for monthly bills and medical costs that insurance does not cover while she takes the time to get healthier and figure out when she can go back to work and for how much each week she can work. We are hoping that if her kidneys do not recover, then she will not have to be on the transplant list long as she already has people willing to step up and donate. Kristen also hopes to be switched to peritoneal dialysis so she can dialyze at night while she sleeps at home... but this is also down the road a bit.

Kristen has always been independent and a fighter. She is strong willed and will no doubt come out stronger on the other side of this. Here are a few things about Kristen you may or may not know. She was a member with the Texas State Guard as a nurse/ medic, deployed to the border of Mexico for a year with Operation Lonestar to help the movement to secure our border by rendering aide to our US soldiers as needed. She is a certified rescue swimmer and in Search and Rescue for the State Of Texas. She has been a nurse for 29 years. She has supported many veterans through various organizations to help them with their PTSD recovery and fight. She regularly participates in Veteran awareness rallies and walks. She has helped Veterans through the former #22Kill foundation and Motorcycle Missions. She comes from a long lineage of veterans and continues to support those who need our help.

Kristen just needs some breathing room to be able to take the time to regain her strength and learn what these new "normals" are for her. So with that, we are asking for any donation that you can afford to help us give her that breathing room.

We know that some people would prefer to give to her privately, and you can do that as well. Her Venmo is @spookykris and feel free to use that if that is something you are more comfortable with. If you are unable to give currently, then please say a prayer for Kristen and her medical team. We believe in the power of prayer. If you are unable to give currently, then please keep her in mind for when you could. Any amount is truly appreciated. We set the first goal at $5k. We would love to blow past this number and really give her some comfort in knowing that she has time to heal and still be able to cover her expenditures and medical bills.

We will update this blog as we know more. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Thank you for helping us help Kristen!!!

10/22/2023 Update: Thank you so much for every person who has donated. We achieved the $5,000.00 goal!!!! Y'all are absolutely amazing. We raised the goal because after looking at her monthly bills while she is out of work, that didn't leave much for her out of pocket expenses for her medical. Kristen is doing well with her hemodialysis. She feels like she has sea legs and is physically exhausted after dialysis but she is learning to work with what her new "normal" is on these days. She is working with her employer to find visits she can do on the days she is able to work down the road. She is absolutely blown away and so grateful for the support. She did not want to do this at first, and after a few of talked with her about it, she finally agreed. So as you know, taking help from others is something that doesn't come natural to Kristen... she is always the one helping others out. So from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for all the support for Kristen while she navigates this. And thank you for continuing to share!!!! <3 Leah