A Kidney for Katrina

I've been keeping a secret.  I've kept this secret because I didn't feel like it was my story to tell but now I'll share.  I have a match.  I have a potential donor.  This amazing person is a match and has undergone testing to ensure that they are a good candidate to be a donor.  There are a couple more tests that need to be completed for their team to be 100% comfortable with this person being a donor and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I don't want a kidney to the detriment of somebody else.  This person is my sister, Elizabeth. So if you are one of the several amazing people who sent in blood or who called and you haven't heard anything, it isn't because you aren't amazing, it's because the search has been temporarily put on hold while the team tests Elizabeth to completion as a sibling is the best possible match.  Thank you for stepping up and if something (a bazillion things beyond any ones control could) happens, you may get a random c...

One of the joys(?) of going on the transplant list is that in order to be active and actually receive a kidney, the transplant team has dug deep into my medical record and I have to get cleared by every specialty I've  ever had the pleasure of meeting.  Because I seem to be the queen of random, mostly benign, and always ridiculous (or maybe that's just me) medical things, I thought I'd share with you what has been filling my days this month as I work towards being able to accept  a kidney.   So no worries, all you wonderful people who have called Vilda and had blood drawn, I've been visiting doctors too.  You are not alone. The first doctor I visited on the tour of Katrina's medical anomalies was the dermatologist.  I needed to see him because 6ish years ago I had a squamous cell something or another removed my face.  I wrote about it my long neglected family blog here.  Spot Removal   I wish that last part had faded from memory...

You guys.  I am amazed at the number of amazing people in my life and in the lives of my friends and family members who have reached out to find out about being tested as a match for me.  It is wonderful and amazing and I just love it. I am one person, and I only need one kidney.  There are several thousand more out there who need a kidney so if you are somebody who was willing to reach out to me only to find we weren't a compatible blood type or if you're one of the amazing people who has magical O blood but find that we aren't a match a bit later in the process please consider being an altruistic donor for somebody else.There are programs across the United States looking for live donors daily.  Being able to provide living donors for patients in my age group helps free up cadaver kidneys for the grandma's and grandpa's out there who maybe don't have the same access to the amazingness I do. Even if I don't find my perfect match, my energies will not ...

My entire diagnosis, this is how I have described my disease.  Its about as simplified as I can get. Immunoglobulin type A (IgA) nephropathy is an immune condition in which my body produces too many antibodies (specifically the ones that fight upper respiratory illnesses).  These excess antibodies have no where to go once the illness is defeated so they collect and clog my kidneys like good little soldiers hanging out at a bar after battle. Clogging my kidneys leads to inflammation, blood in my urine, and ultimately a decrease in kidney function which has brought me to the point of requiring a transplant. The good news is that my nasty little disease is stunted by immunosuppressant therapies which are required post transplant so the chance of my IgA affecting a new kidney to the point of failure is low. If you'd like a little more fancy description or understanding, please click these links. IgAn - Kidney.org Mayo Clinic  - incidentally what this sight lists a...

About me: I enjoy long walks on the beach, sunsets over the mountains, playing in the rain.  Looking for kidney to help me continue these activities for several more years without exhaustion, dialysis, or ridiculous dietary restrictions (looking at you potassium). About you: Wonderful, amazing person willing to share your second kidney with a slightly less wonderful amazing person.  Screening, matching, and surgery done through my transplant program, you just need to call and start the process. If interested, email akidneyforkatrina@gmail.com

Hi, Welcome to my little corner of the interwebs where I plan to educate the masses about kidney disease, specifically IgA Nephropathy while I beg for a kidney.  Why beg?  Well, I'm a 38 year old mother and wife and I have a whole lotta life left to live.  I'd like to do it as happily and healthily as possible and for that, I need a new kidney.  But I'm getting way ahead of myself, lets start at the beginning. It was a rainy spring day in April, 1979 and I was just starting my journey into this world.  What?  You don't want to go back that far?  Fine.  Lets skip ahead to childhood.  I was a mostly healthy child who suffered multiple ear infections and strep throat, as kids often do. When I was in the 6th grade, I got strep throat and a fever accompanied by a rash on my legs and very dark tea colored urine.  TMI?  Too bad, we're gonna talk about pee a bunch around here.  My parents did what parents do and took me to the doct...