A Kidney for Cat

04/03/2025

Today is my Kindeyversary! Three years ago today, Amanda Furnish saved my life by giving me one of her kidneys. I'm forever grateful for her self-less gift, but it goes even beyond her gift to me! Amanda, having shared her only spare, has been so open about being a living donor so that others are more aware of organ donation and hopefully inspired to donate if they can.

Three years later, Amanda is sharing the following living donation opportunity and I hope that you'll share it with your network and maybe we can save another life through living donation.

As with Amanda and I, you do NOT have to be related to be a match for someone in need of a kidney and even if you are not a match, you may donate your kidney as part of an exchange where two or more patients' teams coordinate so that each patient receives a match based on you donating a kidney that matches someone else. If you would like more information on being a living organ donor, you can find it on this on the A Kidney for Cat page.

In the meantime, please share this article and pray for the woman in it as well as potential donors. Let's honor my personal donor and her by spreading the word about being a living kidney donor!

https://kdvr.com/news/local/this-would-mean-everything-castle-rock-woman-searching-for-living-kidney-donor/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=socialflow&fbclid=IwY2xjawI0NNNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHbW0YdZHIX5FZZa4GZpQd8jXekf8zay64xc1z1y_sR1-gAvD-_AR3g_ukw_aem_rMT8BwyuEo6hSmXqA7kQLQ

A Castle Rock woman in need of a kidney is turning to social media instead of relying only on an organ donor waiting list.

17/10/2022

Today is the one year anniversary of me being listed as ACTIVE on the kidney transplant list! It was an important step in mine and Amanda's transplant journey. We were at one of our favorite farms when I got the call. Today, we enjoyed outdoor fun as a family and took some pictures along the way. I have a bit of "prednisone face," but I'm really doing so well! Just like the shirt says, I'm grateful, thankful, and blessed for the miracle of kidney transplant and the amazing gift that Amanda has given me! Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us on this journey!

17/06/2022

It's been a whirlwind this week, so I just got around to checking my lab results from Wednesday.

I was astounded to see that my creatnine is down to 1.3 and my GFR is up to 50! In simple English, if my one number goes up 10 more points, I'll officially have normal kidney function again!

Even with traveling (technically alone, but I had lots of company from other book lady friends who I met along the way both going and coming home), my body continues to amaze me!

I'm so thankful for this phenomenal gift of life! Thank you Amanda Furnish!!!💚💚💚 We may have to plan a trip soon your way because my kiddos would love to meet you and your cutie!

11/06/2022

A few days after my 3 month transplant anniversary, I traveled to the other side of the country by myself!!! This is amazing!

29/04/2022

I feel bad that I've been so slack in posting. Sorry for that! April has been a very busy month for me, but it also is National Organ Donation Month! I will continue to share more information about organ donation as time goes on.

In the meantime, here's a quick update on our journey. Amanda Furnish, my amazing donor, says that she is doing well and her family have been continuing their adventures!

I am doing well. I was having clinic appointments in Pittsburgh once a week and getting my labwork done twice a week locally. However, at my appointment last week, the doctor said that I could get my labs done just ONCE weekly and that my next clinic appointment is in 4 weeks and can be virtual!?!?!?!! We were very surprised, but pleasantly so. On the same day, I had my stent taken out that had been there since surgery.

On Tuesday, I was able to FINALLY get my first iron infusion, with a second one on Wednesdayd. Next week, I'll receive 3 more iron infusions for a total of 5. I'm excited to have them, because I have been having symptoms from anemia. Overall, I'm doing really great!

18/03/2022

Today, I had my first Transplant Clinic appointment in Pittsburgh! I had planned on taking a couple of pictures to share, but had already been a bit of a day and we didn't get out of clinic until after 4pm, so it was completely forgotten. lol Everything was looking good. We overshot the amount of Prograf (an anti-rejection medicine), so I've had some shaking and dreams that kept waking me last night, but thankfully I can't remember them. Tonight they have me skipping it altogether an then adjusting the dosage going forward. Next week, I'll get both my staples and a stent in the ureter to the new kidney taken out, which is huge. It's pretty unbelievable how much this has already changed my life!!

I've cried several times to my husband about how embarrassed and full of guilt I was before to have four children and them often not see me awake until the afternoon because I was so exhausted some days. Every day that I was out and active, I paid for with a "down day," when it felt like my body was just shutting down. I blamed it a lot of my hypothyroidism and worried that maybe something else besides that and Kidney Disease was going on, but almost immediately after transplant, I felt LESS tired. Less tired after major surgery really isn't a thing. lol. But, as it turns out, all of that staggering exhaustion that took hours away from my time with my family so many days, was due to all of the toxins that my body couldn't eliminate. I feel like a new person and I will forever be grateful to Amanda Furnish. I'm thankful our newfound friendship and the bond that we'll always have. Thank you, Amanda, donating life!🥰

10/03/2022

Here is the link to the news story from last night. Sorry it took so long to get it up.

Yesterday, I had a post-op appointment in the morning, we checked out of Family House Shadyside afterwards, spent some time with Amanda, Justin, and their son, and then drove home to East Liverpool. We are so happy to be home!!! One of my medications for anti-rejection got doubled yesterday as well, though, so I woke up during the night feeling very sick from that, but this morning, so far so good! That was the first time that I've had even any nausea from medications during this entire process to date, so we've had a very easy time of it and aren't discouraged by one difficult night.

https://www.wfmj.com/clip/15302292/a-kidney-for-cat?fbclid=IwAR3xOlwK34MOkPc4voP6QOiQKlH2Pv3529HFetgjsBEXqd7JNM3hGMeVmGs #.YilcnTwFttA.facebook

09/03/2022

To help promote awareness for National Kidney Month, 21 WFMJ out of Youngstown, will be sharing our story TONIGHT on the six o'clock news! ❤Cat & Amanda

08/03/2022

Yay!!! Here I am leaving the hospital just a little while ago. I can tell you, that I FEEL much better than I look!😆 I had a mainline for meds and I can't take a for real shower until 24 hours from now and it takes time for swelling to come down (thank goodness for leggings). I'm so thankful to the entire team on 11 North at Upmc Montifiore for the excellent care that they provided while I was there! I'm so excited for the next step in this journey!

Now that I'm discharged, I will be able to update easier myself and I want to go back at some point and share more information for those who are interested, but for now, I'm going to get some sleep.

Amanda Furnish, Roberto Grogg

08/03/2022

More good news Cat just had her last IV taken out and has to finish up laying flat for a half hour. Then we are free!! We will still have to stay in Pittsburgh till at least Wednesday. So far everything looks great and her numbers were already back within normal levels this morning.

07/03/2022

Great news! Amanda was released from the hospital today and there is talk of Cathy being able to leave late tomorrow. She will need to stay in Pittsburgh for a few more days for follow-up tests and appointments. Thank you all for your continued support and prayers.

05/03/2022

Day 2 and both ladies are doing well! A group a walk may be in the works this evening.