Miranda, "Mira" Needs your help!!

 

 

When people ask if I need something, or is there anything they can do I have been responding with “I need a kidney”. Like yesterday.

 

I am 38 years old and sitting active on a pancreas and kidney transplant list. I was bumped from second to third recently due to someone else doing dialysis longer. The average wait time is 3-9 months. I am at month 5. This pancreases donation requires a deceased donor. If I get a living donor for the kidney, I can go back on the list for pancreases after two months.

 

 I have lived my entire life with Type 1 Diabetes. I went in for corrective foot surgery 08/17/2021 and that is where my fight to stay alive started. I went against my gut feeling and listened to others instead of my gut. Always trust your gut instinct. The halo aka frame they attached started a bone infection. I had called in, messaged, and went in but they just kept increasing antibiotics rather than taking it off. I finally said it was being taken off. My body was so busy fighting the infection from the halo it started to shut down. There was nothing I could do but watch the numbers fall to Stage 5 failure.  I required 5 blood transfusions during one hospital stay. I am weak. I am exhausted that no amount of sleep will fix. I look ill. I have restless leg syndrome and uremic pruritus, a constant miserable itch from head to toe. Imagine itching feeling like your skin is on fire. All caused by organ failure. A shot I get once a month keeps my bone marrow working since it is not receiving signal from my kidneys any longer. 

 

I can do a kidney only donation from a living donor. At this point that is what I am trying because I will no longer meet the wait for a pancreas and kidney, for a live kidney donation I need to find my own donor. I am blood type B+. A living donor would need to have Type B or Type O blood.  If you are another blood type and are willing to donate you can also trade with someone else that has a living donor not their blood type yet willing to donate in their honor. I would get their donor’s if it matches and their person would get yours if you matched their recipient. There are no matches yet and apparently UW Health only evaluates two people at a time. A process I think could be different to assist a patient. Their only answer is old school dialysis to bridge people over instead of analyzing their process. 

 

I have jumped through all the hoops the transplant department has put me through as I fight to survive. I have posted on social media; I have written letters in case some don’t have social media asking for a kidney. My Dad was not able to donate due to an autoimmune disease.  It all starts by filling out a form for UW Health, the link is below. So far there are no matches as I continue to weaker by the day.  If you have applied and haven’t heard back when advised you would be please reach out to patient relations at (608) 263-8009. 

 

Please consider donating or share this in case someone else is able. Pleasant Rowland said it best in a donation article, “Never did I think I would be writing a letter with a request of such gravity and if this is something you cannot do for any multiple of reasons, please know that I will love you no less”.

 

I would like to live if possible. Thank you for your time. 

Love, 

Miranda

Mira is searching for her kidney match - could it be you? #teammira

www.kidney.org/

www.miranda-fay.com/

www.uwhealthtransplant.donorscreen.org/register/now