Expenses Kidney Donor-Mariela Parra

My aunt Mariela needs a kidney, and we're raising funds to cover the travel and living costs expenses of any donor coming from outside of Houston.

This is her story:

My aunt Mariela is a singer, a former restaurant owner, a performer, and a part-time clown at children’s parties. Along with her guitar-playing husband, she sings at events, and even got to open up for some famous Latin American singers in Houston.


She’s made a lot of people cry tears of laughter, and she’s made a lot of people smile. She’s won awards and been featured in magazines. But that’s not the whole story, as very few people know what has been going on behind the scenes for most of her life.


At 15 years old, my aunt got diagnosed with Type I Diabetes. Her diabetes was always very aggressive and required daily insulin shots to maintain under control. By the age of 26, she’d lost feeling in her feet, had to have cataract surgery in both eyes, and became unable to ever have any kids. But she kept singing, working full-time, and dancing through it all.


By 29, she had renal kidney failure, and was put on dialysis. For the uninitiated, being on dialysis means that she couldn’t pee, and needed to go to the hospital several times a week to get “drained” of excess waste and water from her system. Despite living in and out of the hospital, she was living happily in the US, was still working several jobs, singing, and ended up meeting her future husband at a hospital, where he was working as a Spanish-English translator.


Dialysis treatment went on for about 2 years, until she underwent a kidney transplant, when a dear friend donated one of her kidneys to her. As a bonus, they also did an islet cell transplant at the same time, which is a cell that produces insulin, so just like that, she was practically cured of diabetes! Her story was featured in medical magazines and journals, because she was one of the first people in the US to undergo this type of double transplant.


She opened up a Venezuelan restaurant with my grandma, (and of course, her and her husband were also the musical acts). She was living the dream as a modern-day medical miracle.

Since then, she’s had a relatively stable decade, with short stints in and out of the hospital, but always working full time, and finding time to fit in singing gigs and volunteer as the main musical act at her church. That all changed last year.

My mom and stepdad (who is a doctor), were visiting her when she was feeling ill, when suddenly went pale and started passing out. She kept whispering to my mom “I think I’m dying, I think I’m dying.” She collapsed in my step dad’s arms, and he started slapping her to keep her awake. He laid her down with her legs raised and basically revived her. When they took her to the hospital they found out that her new kidney had stopped working, and she needed to go back on dialysis.


So this is the situation now: my aunt is at a critical juncture. She’s been on dialysis for almost a year now, but the temporary tube used for dialysis sits on her chest, and normally they would move the tube to the person’s arm. However, due to my aunt’s weak veins, that’s not a possibility. The danger is that any infection through the tube’s contact point could be fatal, as the tube is connected to veins and arteries that are extremely close to her heart. My mom said that if she got an infection, she could literally die within hours.

Her only hope of surviving is to find a donor to come to Houston TX and have another kidney transplant, and even then her chances are slim. I honestly don’t know if she’s going to make it.

So here’s what I’m asking for: help us find a donor for Mariela that can come to Houston, TX. And if you have a few minutes, send her some words of encouragement.
This is the Facebook page  a friend set up for her. 

Here are the basic requirements of a potential donor: 18 and up and in good health, and any blood type. Potential donors need to call the hospital at (713) [phone redacted], mention my aunt’s name and date of birth (Mariela Parra, we'll private message you her DOB) and the hospital will ask you some questions and do some medical tests to see if you qualify as a donor. My aunt’s insurance will cover all the medical costs.

What the money is for:
We need to raise funds to fly and house a donor (plus someone accompanying them) from anywhere in the US or abroad, to come to Houston and to cover their housing and living costs for some time. 

Thank you for reading this. With your help, we can make this story have a happy ending.

#kidney #health #donation #MarielaParra #riñón #transplant #trasplante

With love and gratitude,
Alex