Help the McDaniel Family

Hi, I'm Janelle McDaniel. God heard our prayers! My husband, Billy McDaniel, received a second chance, the gift of life - a new kidney! In 2010, he was diagnosed with renal kidney failure and has been on dialysis since.

On Sunday evening, January 29, 2017 he called me from dialysis around 9pm to tell me he received a phone call from transplant. I instantly had goosebumps and tears filled my eyes. Happiness for my husband, sadness for the individual that lost their life, yet so thankful for their ultimate gift of organ donation. I could tell Billy did not know what to think and in fact, told me his emotions were all over the place....Happy, scared, excited nervous. The transplant team told him he was 4th on the list and that they would call him in the morning (Monday) with the final answer.  At 3am I see him staring at me in the middle of our living room (where I sleep with our newborn) and says, "They just called and told me to come in. They're just waiting on a bed for me." We were in complete shock. He was FOURTH on the list. I stayed home with our children while he headed to the hospital by himself. We texted for hours while the 'final testing' was done.  They needed to make sure everything was for sure a match.  At 8:40am they began prepping him for surgery. I prayed for hours until I finally received a call from his surgeon saying everything went great!

I went to the hospital that evening and told my husband my employer gave me a time accommodation from work, which is basically an extended time off. See, I just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy and am currently on maternity leave.  With my original anticipated return date of February 13th, my maternity leave will have used up my FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) and 6 weeks of paid short term disability.  So, this extended time accommodation is unpaid. Currently, I will have an additional 4 weeks off to help my husband and take care of my children.

Billy will have several appointments each week for the next 6 weeks and they'll slowly decrease from there. He cannot lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk, cannot drive, and will need to rest a lot. That's where I come in to take care of our family of 5. 

We are graciously asking for financial help during this time for our living expenses, medical bills, and any unforseen emergencies that may arise until I return to work.

We feel so blessed for this new journey in life and are very thankful for the outpouring of prayers, love, and support! God is good, all the time!