My name is Shelley and I live in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am a wife, mom, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, neighbor, employee and a community member.  In January 2005, I was diagnosed with kidney disease.  After many years of doctoring my kidneys are still declining, and today I find myself beginning my search for a kidney donor. How do you ask someone for a kidney?  I suppose I’ll start by simply telling my story…

Your kidneys  (we all have two of them, but can live a normal life with only one)  help to clean waste and excess water from your blood, producing urine. They also help to regulate blood pressure and a host of other things. The type of kidney disease I have is called IgA nephropathy (nuh-FROP-uh-the),  a common kidney disease that occurs when an antibody called immunoglobulin A (IgA) lodges in your kidneys. This hampers your kidneys' ability to filter waste, excess water and electrolytes from your blood. Unfortunately, no cure exists for IgA nephropathy, but certain medications can slow its course. It usually progresses slowly over many years, and although some people eventually achieve complete remission, others, like me, develop end-stage kidney failure.

‘End-stage kidney failure’ is a scary term. What does that mean exactly? One way that doctors can check how well a person’s kidney is functioning is by taking a patients blood and testing it  to determine the the blood’s creatinine level.  This is a measurement of the amount protein in the urine.  In a person with normal, healthy kidneys, the level of creatinine  is less than 1.0.  Currently I am over 3.0, which indicates that my kidney’s, both of them, are only functioning at about 20 percent.  For me, this means that I need a kidney transplant.

How did this start? In October 2004, I had scheduled a routine colonoscopy. If you’ve ever had a colonoscopy (or are looking forward to one soon, haha) you know that the colonoscopy procedure happens after you have prepared the night before by drinking a solution that aids in ‘cleaning out your colon’ - it’s not exactly the most pleasant thing, and you spend a lot of time in the bathroom.  So the evening before my colonoscopy procedure, I followed the instructions and began the preparation phase. But as the night went on, I was urinating less and less. When I got up the next morning I was running a fever, and I was peeing brown.  I was uncomfortable, concerned and called off the colonoscopy and made an appointment with my family doctor.  I was diagnosed with strep, and  they also said I was dehydrated from the effects of the  colonoscopy prep solution I had consumed.  (Incidently, the colonoscopy solution they had given me is no longer being used because it can cause kidney failure!! ) After treating the dehydration and the strep with antibiotics and rest, I thought all was normal once more.

That December, my husband Scott, my daughter Katie and I  traveled to Cancun over Christmas Break.  While I was there, I started urinating blood again.  Returning home, I began a series of doctor appointments and was referred to a kidney specialist, who ordered a kidney biopsy.  The diagnosis was IGA Nephropathy.  There aren’t confirmed exact causes for my particular case of kidney disease, but by my doctor believes that having strep when I did was a huge contributor to it, as I usually get sicker than the average person when I get strep.  That was the beginning of years and years of trying to keep it under control.

When the doctors try to slow the progression of my type of kidney disease, the biggest key is to keep your blood pressure as low as can be tolerated by the patient.  To accomplish that, I take two types of blood pressure medication.  Another side effect of kidney disease is low hemoglobin, so I am currently giving myself weekly Procrit shots.  These shots are $175 for a 1-month supply.  I also take a diuretic once or twice a day for water retention so that I can eat some of the foods I like.  Foods I can’t eat much of are foods high in potassium and phosphorus, such as bananas, tomatoes, potatoes, cantaloupe, dairy products, and dark colored beverages.  This is a bummer because I love all these foods!  Well, at least I can have a little bit of these foods at this point, better than not being able to have them at all.

But now the disease is still getting worse, and the doctor has placed me on the transplant list, telling me that it would be better to have the kidney transplant soon, before my kidneys completely fail. If that should happen, it will make it necessary for me to begin dialysis -  a process where your blood must be cleaned of excess water and waste artificially, thru a machine, on a regular basis.

This has been a very long progression. Ironically, a few years after I was diagnosed, one of my sisters ended up needing, and then having a kidney transplant at Hennepin County Medical Center in April 2009.  Her kidney disease was completely unrelated to the type I have. The reason she needed her transplant was the horrible effects of untreated high blood pressure. So often we neglect to take something you hear about so commonly, like high blood pressure, as serious as it really can be.  Luckily for her, she is an identical twin.  Because they are identical twins, she no longer needs to take antirejection medication. I accompanied her to all of her appointments so I know what to expect. Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) is where I will be going for my transplant also.

Now the hard part; finding a kidney and hoping that one can be found before my kidneys fail. Part of me dreads this process, but on the other hand, once I have the transplant, I will start feeling more like my old self.  I am not looking forward to the additional medications I will have to take the rest of my life, but I want to be here for my family.

So… do you know anyone with a spare kidney?