Portia-Waiting

I was diagnosed at age 6 with a form of nephritis that damaged my kidneys with severe damage to the left kidney. On my 60th birthday I learned I would soon need to be on dialysis.  Luckily, I was able to delay for a year but I have now been on dialysis almost 2 years.

I’ve gotten the call three times for a kidney but it hasn’t worked out for me to get the transplant. Sadly, the kidneys were defective. A living donor came forward and we thought that was going to work but due to her possibly having kidney issues later, she was rejected as a donor.

Currently I’m on the transplant list at UK and Vanderbilt. A transplant would mean I could have my life back. I’m trying to work full time and very active in my community, however dialysis three days a week is like having another job. It takes approximately 6 hours, three days a week just to stay alive.