Read personal accounts from people who have received a living kidney donor transplant, including how they found a living donor, what they experienced during their transplant journey, and how their transplant has changed their lives.
In April 2023, I was diagnosed with amyloidosis, a rare bone marrow disorder that destroys your vital organs. It went after my kidneys. Once I realized I needed a kidney transplant, I started to get educated about how that works. I found out that 80% of kidney transplants are from deceased donors, but you really […]
Having been diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) in 2011, I knew a kidney transplant was in my future, though the timing remained uncertain. PKD doesn’t run in my family, making my case unusual as I inherited it without a familial genetic link. In a remarkable turn, my brother stepped forward to donate his kidney […]
My kidney journey began almost a year into my career as a nurse. In 2020, I graduated from nursing school. I’d chosen nursing as a second career. I always wanted to be a nurse, and in my late 20s I was able to start down the path to becoming one. Unexpectedly, I began my career […]
All my adult life, I was in finance. In the early 2000s, there was a real boom in the market, so I made a lot of money as a young adult—probably more than any young adult should make. With all that money comes a lot of irresponsibility. In many cases, when someone is doing well […]
In 2009, I had a new doctor and was getting all the workups you get when you have a new physician, and they noticed elevated levels of creatinine in my urine. They did a kidney biopsy and told me I had FSGS, which is focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. My kidneys were only functioning at 39%. I was […]
My microsite saved my life. My kidney transplant journey started with an ATV accident about four years ago. I was crushed between an ATV and a tree, which caused catastrophic injuries including paralysis from the waist down, ribs through both of my lungs, and my left side being completely crushed. Luckily, there was another group […]
My name is Luiz, and I want to share my kidney transplant journey. I was a dialysis patient for two years. In those two years I went through many life changes that I assure you no one is prepared for! But I took everything that came my way with a positive attitude. The days I […]