How my journey began…
Over the last 10 years, G has not allowed her kidney disease to slow her down in the slightest. She passionately trains 6 days a week with her team and cross-trains in the weight room on her own time. However, most people are unaware that G continued to endure medications, countless doctor visits, blood draws, ultrasounds, hospital stays and physically exhausting surgical procedures. Over the years, she learned to tolerate the loss of appetite, fatigue, nausea, and headaches and bear through the unrelenting symptoms of kidney disease.
Her “normal” was brought to an abrupt halt on December 19th, 2022. It was a Monday afternoon in New Orleans. She was getting ready to see her favorite band in concert when the phone rang. It was her doctor from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) asking if she could return home and head to the hospital. To say it shook her to the core would be an understatement. G headed out the next morning and drove straight to the hospital. They admitted her and performed a kidney biopsy. It was at that point that they told her that her health had rapidly declined and that she had kidney failure and had End Stage Renal Disease. She was prepared to hear this news at some point in her life, but was shocked it was so soon.
The next few months were a blur from hospital stays and surgeries. G was in the hospital every month. Sometimes a few days’ stay, and sometimes it was weeks. She received regular dialysis treatments, 7 days a week, 8 hours a night. That helped her kidneys do their job and keep her alive, but she needed a kidney transplant to offer her more freedom and the ability to live a longer, healthier, more normal life.
On May 31, 2024, she received her transplant. However, she also recognized that a transplant is not a cure for kidney disease—it is a treatment. Now that G is on this new journey, she will be on immunosuppressant medication for the rest of her life to prevent her body from rejecting the kidney. She will continue to undergo regular doctor visits, blood work, scans, and other tests to ensure her kidney continues to function properly.