Miriam’s Kidney Transplant Fund

My name is Miriam Yarde. I am twenty-three years old and am a former foster youth and an orphan. I graduated from UC Berkeley in 2017 with a B.A. in English and aspire to attend law school. College years presented many challenges. My father died unexpectedly during my first semester at Cal. The following year, in January of 2014 I was diagnosed with IGA nephropathy. My disease rapidly progressed resulting in a diagnosis of End Stage Renal Failure a year later. My kidneys failed and no longer functioned. Since then, I have undergone five surgeries, multiple blood transfusions, and numerous hospital stays.

For the past 3 years, I have been on the kidney transplant list at the University of California, Davis. There is a four-year waitlist for a kidney transplantation. During this time, I have undergone dialysis three times a week for a total of twelve hours per week. Although I stay positive, undergoing dialysis has not been easy. Receiving dialysis entails having large needles inserted into my arm. The toxicity of my blood causes me to feel extreme fatigue. Each day, I take more than fifteen pills to help regulate my blood pressure, cholesterol, and phosphorus which are functions normally controlled by the kidneys.

I am awaiting a call for transplantation and expect to be called soon. Although I have health insurance, I will need several anti-rejection medications to sustain my transplanted kidney that are not covered by my plan. It is estimated that these life sustaining medications will cost approximately $8,800 per month. My parents are deceased and I do not have any family members that can contribute to the financial burden I am facing. I am hoping that with your generosity to my GoFundMe, it will alleviate some of the expenses I will incur so that I can focus on healing after transplantation. Any donation will be a blessing. I ask that if you cannot donate, please keep me in your prayers.