11/21/2024
Hello, and welcome to my kidney donor page. I have prayed long and hard about different ways to get the word out about my need for a kidney. Let me give you the back story...
For several years, I have been plagued with various autoimmune diseases like psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis. For a couple of years I was sickly. I had various trips to ERs, but I was never diagnosed with anything specific. For a while, I thought maybe I had Lupus because of the recurring pain and skin lessions I would get. I knew I had RA and had a couple of excruciating flare ups between 2014-2016. My psoriasis was also out of control and it took a few years to find a biologics that worked for me.
Fast forward to Labor Day 2016. I was feeling very weak, could not eat, was having terrible joint pain, was covered with psoriasis and having difficulty breathing. I drove myself to the ER and when I arrived and they triaged me, I was asked how I got there, and I said I drove myself. At that time, the nurse looked at his coworker, shook his head and said that I should even be standing. My O2 sat was at 76, my hemoglobin was 68, and my heart was racing (135 bpm).
I was taken to a room and was given a blood transfusion, and started on a bipap machine to see if they could get oxygen in me. I had stopped making urine and had sepsis. I was sent to ICU the next morning and was put on a ventilator for 8 days. When my family arrived and asked what my prognosis was, they were told I had about a 5% chance of surviving, and at that point to just pray.
As a brief note here, obviously, I was not awake for this, but my good friend said that when the doctors said I only had a 5% chance of survival, my mother pulled out her trusted holy oil and put it on my head and began to plead the blood of Jesus over me. I am so grateful for a praying momma.
By the grace of God, it just so happened that a doctor who had done a fellowship in autoimmune conditions, specifically, ANCA-Associated Vasculitis was on shift that day. It was he who diagnosed me, and recommended doing plasmapheresis, which is a procedure in which a machine is used to separate the plasma (the liquid part of the blood) from the blood cells. After the plasma is separated from the blood cells, the blood cells are mixed with a liquid to replace the plasma and are returned to the body. I know all that sounds fancy, but basically, that was my only option. My lungs were hemorrhaging, and I had no kidney function. Dialysis was not an option at that point.
Miraculously, I slowly began to improve. After 10 days in ICU, and a month in the hospital, I came home to begin the real work. I began seeing a nephrologist (my cool doctor), and we started treating the Vasculitis. Since I had what was considered an Acute Renal Failure, my function did return, but only about 60%. The goal of treatment was to slow the progression of the disease. So to do that, I had to do 6 months of chemotherapy, followed by bi-annual infusions of Rituxan, which, by the way, seems to help with RA as well.
Fast-foward to 2022, I finally had to make the decision to begin dialysis. I do what is called peritoneal dialysis. You can see more about that process here: https://nephroncorporation.com/peritoneal-dialysis.php?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0fu5BhDQARIsAMXUBOIhCqaFl6NIJ8K_n7ae51fhoCVBdCnOqZzcmVeEQG7GA1XPPWkYYpcaAhShEALw_wcB
I have now been on dialysis for 2.5 years. While things are going well, I did suffer a set back at the end of 2023 related to a new diagnosis of Autoimmune Cholangitis, which causes inflammationof the bile duct and can eventually lead to cirrhosis, if left untreated. I have been cleared by my Hepatologist to move forward with my kidney transplant, and am treating the cholangitis.
Now, all I need is a donor. Being on a list can take years, and the fact is, a kidney from a living donor lasts longer and has fewer potential complications than a kidney from a deceased donor. That being said, if there is anyone out there interested in blessing me, or anyone else with the gift of life, please inbox me.
Please share!
Thank you in advance.
Peritoneal Dialysis provided by Nephron Dialysis Centers, a group of north Georgia dialysis clinics serving patients in Gwinnett, Barrow, Walton, and Clarke counties.
