I'm donating a kidney so TWO people can receive a kidney!

Hi friends!

As requested by many, here is the gofundme.

I’ve been going through months of health tests and life-changing habits including small things like not having coffee for now 7 (arduous!!) months. After a full medical board ‘clearing’, it is officially locked down! I have a surgery date for August 13th. I will be donating my kidney through NYU Langone. Around 90,000 people are currently on the kidney transplant waitlist, each hoping for a life-changing kidney transplant. Over 7,000 die every year waiting, averaging 17-20 a day.

This has been in the works since 2019. We all know what happened in 2020, so that got pushed pretty far back. I only told maybe 3 people of my intentions before starting the official process. Originally, my intended donor was for Kayla St. Pierre. There may be a better match for her, so I will be donating anonymously to someone else desperately in need. I hope I get to meet them!

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A bit about Kayla: https://www.kidney4kayla.com/about

In 2000, at the age of 10, Kayla St. Pierre fell ill suddenly and was rushed to the hospital where she was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. After months in the hospital, going through amputations and kidney failure Kayla’s adoptive father, Tony, found out that in a 1 in 100,000 chance, he was a match for a kidney donation. Tony donated his kidney to Kayla, giving her years of a healthy, functioning kidney. After all that Kayla endured, she persevered and graduated high school, got her degree from Northeastern University, and attended nursing school. In 2016, she became a psychiatric nurse, something she had always dreamed of doing but had to overcome insecurity to fulfill her dream, and was the first student at her school to complete clinical in a wheelchair.

Today, she is 35, and living in Wilmington, MA. She is a Patient Facility Representative at her dialysis center and she has continued to volunteer on the Board of Directors for the Hope and Friendship Metastatic Breast Cancer Foundation (hopeandfriendship.org) since 2012. Now, 20 years later, Kayla’s kidney is failing and she is in a race against time to find a donor. Unfortunately, now is the time for a new donor, as she has been on dialysis for over 5 years.

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Once the surgery is done, Kayla will receive a voucher to redeem for a new kidney once they find a better suitable match. Girls gonna get a kidney golden ticket y’all!! It’s been a scary few months finally committing to this, but once I signed the paperwork I had no more mental worries. I truly never feared this decision, just minor things. This is one of the main reasons why I am posting, as well as letting everyone know to never lose hope!

The registry program may cover some all of my lost income, but the doctors are concerned I may need more than 6 weeks of recovery. The foundation covers 2 weeks lost wages, 6 with approval. I hope I can work fully after 6, but they will most likely mandate working part time (I'll use my saved vacation days). Y’all already know I live at home to financially support the old folks, so rent won’t be an issue for me. The issue will mainly be covering any lost wages my parents will experience, such as partial FMLA, unpaid time off and whatever medical needs they'll need.

Along with everything else mentioned, it would be for things I usually don’t do as well, like necessary food supplemental additions (vegetarian with annoying allergies) and any other unforeseen blips.

COST transparency: I will be professionally dry cleaning all of my clothes and selling/donating them, probably through DEPOP. I don't really watch TV as I have over 800 cassettes and counting. Whatever doesn't get spent on stated necessities will be saved. No funds will be used for anything lavish or unnecessary. I'll be holed up in my room for a month working the credit card miles churning for airline miles, learning Japanese, working on music and a VR start-up already in the works, and slowly going outside to get used to exercising and my biggest enemy, sunlight.

I've purchased a mattress topper, a fuzzy cheap carpet and a Roku stick. I may get a CRT TV for art. The number may seem high? low? I don't know, this is what GFM advised. Donate whatever you like. All I ask is to make it anonymous so I don't cry. Cool? cool.

I'll post updates once the surgery is complete along with goofy photos. Thanks for reading! Can't wait to be the regular goofball I usually am.