Charley's Angels

Hi, my name is Charley, and I have end stage renal disease. I have been dealing with this since I was about 14 years old. I have been on dialysis for 15 years. I recently made aware of my condition to my Facebook friends and family, and that led me to my donor, Doris. It's funny because Doris and I had crossed paths before and hadn't known what our fate held for us. Doris is a perfect match to donate one of her kidneys to me. She had always felt that she was supposed to donate and actually tried with an old neighbor before she tried with me. She is truly an angel. We had the surgery scheduled a few times now, but my body delayed each time, costing us both money for more appointments, missing work and lodging to go to those appointments down at the Mayo Clinic. Now we have the surgery scheduled again, and it's for December 29th. And I have to be down there 3 days before. The majority of the actual transplant and stay in the hospital will be covered, but the time in recovery is not. For neither Doris or I. Mayo Clinic requires me to stay down in Rochester for a month after transplant due to the high risk rejection of the transplant. In order to keep my body from rejecting this new found gift, I will be on some medicines that kill off my immune system. This may sound scary to some, but I am truly excited. Excited to be able to live a semi normal life. Now, anyone that knows me, knows that even with all that I've dealt with, that I try not to ask for help. I've tried my hardest to just live normal and not put my illness on the forefront. That has been a blessing and a curse. Because of the fact that I may not look sick, people tend to forget. I'm ok with that, as all I wanted to be was normal, but now, I need the help of my friends and family. As hard as this is for me to do, I can't do it without you. I need help. With my own bills piling up, and also I want to be able to make the recovery period as easy as possibly for Doris as well.. she has already done so much. There isn't much I can do at this point.. I never wanted to ask for help, but at this point, I have no other options.. I didn't know this before today, but a few friends and family are planning a benefit, but weren't able to get the date and everything set up in time before transplant. I know Christmas is coming, and this is not the best time, but in all these years, I wouldn't be doing this if I really didn't need it. If you aren't able to help, please just pass it on and maybe through the way I found my kidney, there will be enough people to help make this transplant happen... thank you in advance... from the bottom of my heart...