Find a Kidney For Marissa

03/29/2026

Joe DeRosa we got to go, maybe on April 17th after my kidney transplant evaluation appointment at Tampa General Hospital.

Embark on a journey like no other with Titanic: An Immersive Voyage – Through the Eyes of the Passengers Tampa. Witness history, encounter the iceberg, and explore the wreck site in VR

03/25/2026

The emotional weight of being "judged by a chart" is something many people outside the transplant community don't fully see. It feels incredibly reductive to have my entire life, value, and future distilled into lab values, BMI, and compliance history. It’s a surreal experience to wait for a committee—people who may have never sat in a room with me—to make a decision that carries the weight of life and death. My feelings of anxiety and the sense that it’s an "impersonal" process are completely valid; it’s a high-stakes vulnerability that most people will never have to face.

Why Relocation and Proximity are Essential
The requirement to relocate or live near the hospital post-transplant isn't just a suggestion; it’s a clinical necessity for my safety and the success of the new organ.

1. Intensive Monitoring Frequency
For the first 4 to 8 weeks following a transplant, follow-up care is grueling.

Frequent Lab Work: I will typically need blood work and clinic visits 2 to 3 times per week.

Medication Adjustments: My transplant team must constantly tweak my immunosuppressants (anti-rejection meds) based on those lab results. Being hours away makes these rapid-fire adjustments nearly impossible.

2. The "Golden Hour" for Rejection and Infection
The period immediately following surgery is when the risk of acute rejection or opportunistic infection is highest.

Speed of Care: If I spike a fever or show signs of organ distress, I need to be at the transplant center within minutes, not hours. General ERs often lack the specialized knowledge to handle the complexities of a fresh transplant patient.

Diagnostic Access: Specialized biopsies or imaging required to check the organ’s health are usually only available at the transplant center itself.

3. Energy Conservation and Physical Recovery
Transplant surgery is a major physical trauma.

Reduced Mobility: Long car rides can increase the risk of blood clots (DVT) and cause significant pain and exhaustion.

Caregiver Support: Living closer reduces the burden on my husband and my family, ensuring they aren't burnt out by 4+ hours of driving on top of providing 24/7 care

This is why your donations are so vital. You aren't just helping with a "bill"; you are helping me stay in the "safety zone" while my body learns to live with a new organ.

Thank you for being part of my village.

To donate 👇
gofund.me/ec3a4066b

Help Me Fight Stage 4 Polycystic Kidney Disease My name is … Marissa Lisowski needs your support for Support Marissa Lisowski's Kidney Transplant Journey

03/20/2026

If you’ve seen my recent post, you know that I am currently searching for a living kidney donor—a miracle that could truly save my life.

But behind that search is a reality I don’t always have the words for.

Living with stage 4 Polycystic Kidney Disease has not only taken a physical toll on my body, it has completely changed my life. Over the years, the pain, complications, and hospital visits have become overwhelming. In 2020, I became disabled and lost the ability to work, something I never imagined would happen to me.

Since then, I’ve been doing my best to simply survive—physically, emotionally, and financially.

The truth is, while I wait and hope for a life-saving transplant, the medical bills continue to grow. Between medications, treatments, specialists, and basic living expenses, the weight of it all has become more than I can carry alone.

It’s incredibly hard to ask for help like this. But just as I’ve had to find the courage to ask for a kidney, I’m now asking for help to get through this chapter of my life.

If you feel moved to support me, any donation—no matter how small—would mean more than I can put into words. And if you’re not able to give, sharing this with others could help reach someone who can.

Every act of kindness, every share, every prayer brings me one step closer to relief, stability, and hope for a healthier future.

Thank you for standing beside me during this journey. It truly means everything.

💚 Donate here: https://gofund.me/b2827f1d

03/20/2026

Hello, my name is Marissa Lisowski. I’m 45 years old and living with stage 4 Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD)—a progressive, incurable disease I’ve battled for most of my adult life.

My kidney function is down to 16%, and once it drops below 15%, I will be in end-stage kidney failure.

Today, I’m asking for help in finding a living kidney donor.

PKD causes countless fluid-filled cysts to grow in the kidneys, crowding them until they can no longer function. These cysts can rupture without warning, causing severe pain and complications. While a normal kidney is about the size of your fist, PKD kidneys can grow as large as a football and weigh up to 30 pounds.

In 2020, at just 39, I became fully disabled due to this disease. I live with chronic pain, extreme fatigue, anemia, brain fog, high blood pressure, infections and many visits to the ER. Because of this, I’m unable to work, and while I’m grateful for disability, it doesn’t come close to covering my medical and living expenses.

I’m trying to avoid dialysis if possible. Dialysis is extremely hard on the body—it’s time-consuming, exhausting, and can come with serious complications like infections, low blood pressure, and a reduced quality of life. A transplant before dialysis offers the best chance at a longer, healthier life.

It’s important to know that dialysis and transplants are not cures—just treatments. I will face this disease for the rest of my life.

Most people don’t realize you only need one healthy kidney to live a normal life. Living donation is an incredible gift that can save mine.

If you’ve ever felt called to help someone in a life-changing way, I ask you to please consider learning more:

💚 Start the process to become a living donor:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/zh-hans/forms/florida-living-donor-transplant?utm_source=chatgpt.com

💚 Learn more about living kidney donation:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/living-donor-kidney-transplant/about/pac-20569323

Becoming a donor does not commit you to anything—it simply starts a conversation and allows you to learn more. You can step away at any time.

I’ve had 7 incredible people try to donate on my behalf, but unfortunately none were approved.

Through it all, I’m incredibly grateful for my husband of 13 years, Mike, who has stood by my side every step of the way and continues to be my strength through this.

If donating isn’t something you can do, you can still help me in a meaningful way. Please consider donating to my GoFundMe medical fundraiser. Any donation—no matter how small—would mean more than I can put into words. And if you’re not able to give, sharing this with others could help reach someone who can.

💚 GoFundMe:
https://gofund.me/b2827f1d

This is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do—but my life depends on it.

Through it all, I'm trying my best to simply survive—physically, emotionally, and financially.

Thank you for reading, sharing, and keeping me in your thoughts.
💚Marissa

03/10/2026

03/10/2026

Every donation goes toward giving hope and support to kidney patients.

03/10/2026

Mayo Clinic's efforts to continually improve and expand organ transplantation have placed Mayo at the leading edge of transplant research worldwide.

03/07/2026

Keep praying and sharing my story, I truly believe my time is coming soon but remember knowledge is power and the more that know can help me find a living kidney donor as well as continue fundraising to help pay for medical expenses that have accumulated from living with this incurable disease. Any donation will help pay for my treatments and medications that aren't covered by my health insurance since becoming fully disabled and unable to work for the last 6 years.

03/07/2026

March is Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) awareness month. Knowledge is power and the more you know the more you can help save someone's life like my own. Wear teal and share this post if you know someone suffering with this incurable disease. Thank you and God Bless you all for your unwavering support as I navigate through my own kidney transplant journey. Your love, kindness and prayers help more than you know.

03/04/2026

This happens to me at least once a week...I finally feel like I'm not completely insane and this unfortunately happens to a lot of chronically ill people with chronic pain.

03/04/2026

For most of my life, I’ve searched for the right words to explain what it feels like to live with advanced polycystic kidney disease. Words have always fallen short. How do you describe a pain that never leaves? A pressure that never lifts? A disease that quietly grows inside you, changing your body and your future at the same time?

Now, standing at the edge of kidney failure, I was finally able to recreate my latest MRI in full color — a raw, honest image of what I call my “monsters.” They’ve lived inside me for as long as I can remember. In a strange way, I’ve grown used to them. They’ve shaped my strength, sharpened my resilience, and forced me to become someone who endures what most people could never imagine.

But let me be clear — I do not want to keep them.

These kidneys are no longer the size they should be. They are the size of two footballs, crowding my organs, pressing into my ribcage, stretching my abdomen. Every breath, every movement, every attempt to rest comes with a reminder that they are there. The pain isn’t occasional. It’s daily. Chronic. Relentless. It is learning how to smile while your body feels like it’s being crushed from the inside.

People see me functioning. They see me standing, talking, showing up. What they don’t see is the calculation behind every movement. The exhaustion. The nights without sleep. The fear of what the next scan will show. Polycystic kidney disease is progressive and incurable. Those words echo in every appointment: “There’s nothing we can do.”
Or worse: “The surgery is too risky.”

Too risky.

But living like this — is that not risky too? Existing in constant pain? Watching your future narrow? Being told to wait while your quality of life disappears?

Many people assume that a kidney transplant alone would solve everything. And while a transplant is life-saving, in my case it would not remove the source of my daily suffering. My native kidneys — these enlarged, cyst-filled organs — would still be there. Still pressing on my stomach. Still pushing against my ribs. Still causing infections, bleeding cysts, and constant pain.

A transplant would give me kidney function.

But a double nephrectomy — removing both of my diseased kidneys — would give me space. It would relieve the crushing pressure inside my body. It would allow my other organs to settle back where they belong. It would mean being able to bend without stabbing pain. To breathe without tightness. To eat without feeling instantly full. To sleep without rolling onto what feels like rocks inside my abdomen.

A transplant may extend my life.

A double nephrectomy would give me my quality of life back.

Together, they would give me a future.

When something slowly takes pieces of you — your comfort, your freedom, your ability to look forward to tomorrow — you begin to question everything. You question your mortality. You question how much more you can carry. You question whether survival is the same thing as living.

There was a time when the weight of it all felt unbearable. But I realized something powerful: this is my life. And I deserve a say in it. I deserve a chance at relief. I deserve a surgeon who believes restoring quality of life is worth the effort. The issue isn’t that the surgery can’t be done — it’s that too few are willing to do it.

So I share my story.

Not to shock.
Not to make anyone uncomfortable.
But to educate.

I share it for the people who think a transplant is a simple cure — it’s not. I share it for those who are considering becoming a living kidney donor but are unsure. I share it for the thousands of us silently living with this disease, who have learned to mask our suffering so well that the world assumes we’re fine.

We are not fine.

We are strong. We are resilient. But we are in pain.

These are my monsters. They have shaped me into a warrior — someone who refuses to surrender when told “no.” But even warriors need help.

A kidney transplant would help me survive.
A double nephrectomy would help me live.

If you’ve ever wondered whether becoming a living donor matters — it does. It changes everything. Knowledge is powerful. Awareness saves lives. Sharing this story could reach the one person who says yes.

Please help me not just extend my life — but reclaim it.

Click if you're interested in becoming a living kidney donor
https://nkr.org/QNR989

03/03/2026

My current situation living with Stage 4 polycystic kidney disease and battling a severe sinus infection. I went to urgent care this morning. I was put on antibiotics. My entire face feels like it's broken (head, under my eyes, entire nose, both cheeks and ears). My right lymph node is swollen in my neck the size of a golf ball. And the funniest NON funny moment happened in the doctor's office (only funny to my hubby and I since we were present to hear and witness it). The doctor's "complete dismay" that I didn't test positive for COVID. I never thought I could actually make someone upset to not be dying 😂 but this doctor was legit upset that she was wrong and said she could have bet I had covid and was completely shocked I didn't. These were the words coming out of her mouth and all I could muster to say was "Well, thank God you WERE WRONG!" I swear people say the most ridiculous things straight to my face. So, although the test came back negative, I pray I don't have COVID based on the doctor being so DANG confident I did have it. I'll be testing on my own if these antibiotics don't start working. But, lmao 🤣 I never had a doctor come in disappointed I wasn't sicker than I actually was. You'd think she'd be relieved or happy for me 😂 TRUE STORY! I'm glad Mike Lisowski was with me or nobody would have ever believed this actually happened! I still can't believe a medical professional said what she said 🤷‍♀️