Hello everyone and welcome to my blog!
Let me start off by introducing myself, my name is Melissa and for the second time in my life, I am on the quest for a kidney.
I decided to start this blog to discuss my experiences while living with kidney disease. My hope is that perhaps someone out there who is going through the same or similar circumstances will be able to gain insight, and maybe even some inspiration in how to enjoy and embrace life with a chronic illness. Here is a little more about me and my story...
At the age of 16 I was sent home from the hospital with an untreated streptococcal infection that infiltrated my kidneys causing them to shut down over a period of 2-3 weeks due to a condition called Rapidly Progressive Glomerulonephritis. Less than a week after my final diagnosis and hospitalization, a doctor came into my room and told me that I was going to die. She obviously had no idea who she was talking to because here I am nearly 30 years later, and I'm still going strong!
Since then I have underwent 9 years of hemodialysis and plasmapheresis treatments, over 3,000 needle sticks, hundreds of thousands of pills, multiple blood transfusions, various injuries such as torn muscles and broken bones, at least 20 surgeries, and additional conditions which require treatment that arose from my underlying end-stage renal disease. I may have lost friends, family, jobs, at times my independence and my mind (I kid, I kid) but I have learned so much, and I truly know that I have gone through all of this for good reason. Right now, I find myself once again in stage 5 kidney failure and needing another kidney transplant.
My first kidney transplant, the one that is failing now, came from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) wait list which is why I had to undergo 9 years of dialysis while I waited for a matching kidney to become available. During my rejection episode in 2009, the doctors at University of Michigan informed me that due to my antibodies and blood type, I could expect to wait as long as 14 years for my next transplant if I go on the list there. I took my pleas to Facebook and the local media with the hopes of finding a living donor but after a year of no luck, I decided to move to a state in which the list would be shorter.
Shortly after relocating to Southwest Florida in 2010 I established with a nephrologist here and according to their standards my function was not poor enough to be placed on the list which bought me 3 more years of freedom to live as normally as possible. I was working two jobs in order to cover my medical bills, and spent nearly every other weekend in the hospital due to complications of my condition. Finally after breaking BOTH of my ankles in 2013, I was forced to go on disability. Despite what many would consider impossible conditions I have still managed to flourish and grow, hurdling over every obstacle in my way including my newest one, the quest for a kidney.
I'm going to keep this short for today but in closing I would just like to say that I appreciate you taking the time to stop by and learn a little more about me, and if you would like to check out my website (I LOVE visitors!) you can just click here.
Peace, Love, & Blessings
