Kari's Kidney Fund
Donation protected
Hi! I'm Kari, and I'm on a mission to change someone's life. Just how do I plan to do that? By donating a kidney!
Several months ago, I came across a story about a man who needed a kidney transplant. His family created a Facebook page in hopes of finding a donor. As soon as I read their story, I immediately knew this was something I wanted to do. I had never been so sure of anything in my entire life. I reached out to their transplant center and discovered that they had so many people contact them about being a donor that they already had a qualified pool of candidates to go ahead and start the testing process. At this point, I took a step back and really gave this some thought. Is this something I really wanted to do, or did I just get caught up in their emotional story and the feeling would pass? Something deep down inside kept telling me this was something I was meant to do, that this was my purpose in life. If you've never felt that strongly about something, it's hard to explain. I just knew I had to do it.
I did some research, and learned about the transplant program at the Mayo Clinic here in Jacksonville. I called them up, explained that I wanted to donate my kidney, and asked how I could get started. It was very obvious that they don't get many people who randomly call them and say they want to donate to a complete stranger. I didn't have a specific person who I wanted to donate to, so I would be a non-directed altruistic donor. I made it through the weeks of testing, all the appointments and interviews, and finally in October I found out I was approved to be a living donor! I had also decided to use my donation to start a donor chain. When someone needs a kidney and has a potential donor, but they aren't a match, they can be entered into a "kidney swap" program. In this program, they will find a donor who is a match, and in exchange the original incompatible donor will donate to someone else who they happen to be a match for. I believe the longest chain in the country is 60 people! How awesome is that?! I realized this will not only allow me to save one person's life, but also the lives of many others.
After 3 months of waiting, I finally got the call I've been waiting for on January 8th. I have one more blood test to confirm everything 100%, but I have a recipient! And, my donation will be kicking off an 8 person chain! That means 4 people are going to get new kidneys and new leases onlife! It's a great, but overwhelming feeling that I'm going to be a part of something this huge.
Now comes the opportunity for you to be a part of this incredible experience. Throughout this whole process, my family has supported me 100%. I'm sure my parents are nervous and scared that their daughter is essentially risking her life to save the life of a complete stranger, but they have supported me regardless. They are both planning on being with me during the surgery and during my recovery, but I currently live about 1000 miles away from them. This means they are going to have to take time off work, pay for travel, lodging, etc. I would love to be able to help them with their expenses, since they are putting their day to day life on hold to come and take care of me. Luckily I don't have to pay anything out of pocket for my medical expenses because it is all covered by the recipient, but my extra income is being saved to make sure I'm financially prepared in case I need to take more time off work than expected. I decided to create this campaign in hopes of raising money to help my parents out with their travel expenses. Any little bit will help and will be greatly appreciated by myself and my family.
I hope you will continue to follow me on my incredible journey, and I hope I can help to inspire anyone who might be thinking about becoming a living donor. I've documented my entire experience on a blog, and you can follow along here: http://thatiswhytheskyisblue.blogspot.com/
Several months ago, I came across a story about a man who needed a kidney transplant. His family created a Facebook page in hopes of finding a donor. As soon as I read their story, I immediately knew this was something I wanted to do. I had never been so sure of anything in my entire life. I reached out to their transplant center and discovered that they had so many people contact them about being a donor that they already had a qualified pool of candidates to go ahead and start the testing process. At this point, I took a step back and really gave this some thought. Is this something I really wanted to do, or did I just get caught up in their emotional story and the feeling would pass? Something deep down inside kept telling me this was something I was meant to do, that this was my purpose in life. If you've never felt that strongly about something, it's hard to explain. I just knew I had to do it.
I did some research, and learned about the transplant program at the Mayo Clinic here in Jacksonville. I called them up, explained that I wanted to donate my kidney, and asked how I could get started. It was very obvious that they don't get many people who randomly call them and say they want to donate to a complete stranger. I didn't have a specific person who I wanted to donate to, so I would be a non-directed altruistic donor. I made it through the weeks of testing, all the appointments and interviews, and finally in October I found out I was approved to be a living donor! I had also decided to use my donation to start a donor chain. When someone needs a kidney and has a potential donor, but they aren't a match, they can be entered into a "kidney swap" program. In this program, they will find a donor who is a match, and in exchange the original incompatible donor will donate to someone else who they happen to be a match for. I believe the longest chain in the country is 60 people! How awesome is that?! I realized this will not only allow me to save one person's life, but also the lives of many others.
After 3 months of waiting, I finally got the call I've been waiting for on January 8th. I have one more blood test to confirm everything 100%, but I have a recipient! And, my donation will be kicking off an 8 person chain! That means 4 people are going to get new kidneys and new leases onlife! It's a great, but overwhelming feeling that I'm going to be a part of something this huge.
Now comes the opportunity for you to be a part of this incredible experience. Throughout this whole process, my family has supported me 100%. I'm sure my parents are nervous and scared that their daughter is essentially risking her life to save the life of a complete stranger, but they have supported me regardless. They are both planning on being with me during the surgery and during my recovery, but I currently live about 1000 miles away from them. This means they are going to have to take time off work, pay for travel, lodging, etc. I would love to be able to help them with their expenses, since they are putting their day to day life on hold to come and take care of me. Luckily I don't have to pay anything out of pocket for my medical expenses because it is all covered by the recipient, but my extra income is being saved to make sure I'm financially prepared in case I need to take more time off work than expected. I decided to create this campaign in hopes of raising money to help my parents out with their travel expenses. Any little bit will help and will be greatly appreciated by myself and my family.
I hope you will continue to follow me on my incredible journey, and I hope I can help to inspire anyone who might be thinking about becoming a living donor. I've documented my entire experience on a blog, and you can follow along here: http://thatiswhytheskyisblue.blogspot.com/
Organizer
Kari Robbins
Organizer
Jacksonville, FL