Samantha

My transplant was on December 27, 2017 from a living donor. I had my surgery at Duke University hospital in Durham NC.

I was diagnosed with kidney failure on March 6th 2016. At the same time I was diagnosed with massive heart failure, Hyperactive Thyroidism and anemia. To this day none of my doctors know the cause.

Because I’m 21 (20 at the time of diagnosis) I tried my absolute best to not let kidney failure affect me. I was on dialysis 3 days a week but I still worked, went to school and hung out with my friends. I couldn’t take a normal shower because of the port in my chest, I always had to wrap it with saran wrap. Dialysis left me completely exhausted but I didn’t let it stop me from doing what I wanted.

Not being on dialysis is amazing. I have such a strong appreciation and love for every dialysis technician I got to know, but I hated dialysis. My stomach still gets all knotted up every time I drive by a center. I can do so much I couldn’t before, like take a normal shower, work more and take more courses at school. I almost have my bachelors degree now, and I have amazing energy.

I wish more people understood that kidney transplants are nothing short of a miracle. Giving a kidney to someone doesn’t just get them off dialysis it gives them their life back. I will never be able to thank my donor enough for his courage and sacrifice.

My donor was someone from my parent’s bible study group. Both of my parents couldn’t donate to me and once he found out, both he and his wife got tested. Not only was he a perfect blood type match but was a perfect tissue type match as well. His kidney was huge and both of our surgeries took longer than expected because it was so difficult to fit in. Both of our surgeries went amazingly and we are doing well and are back to normalcy.

Location: Raleigh, North Carolina