Stories

My Transplant Story

In 2004 I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease called Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA). This is a rare condition that causes inflammation in blood cells. As a result of this disease my kidneys were badly damaged. I was put on the kidney transplant waiting list. My kidneys were still functioning well enough to avoid dialysis. In 2015 I was informed by my nephrologist that I was very close to being on dialysis. I was stunned as I was planning on moving to Chicago for graduate school. On...