Kidney 4 Katisha

Being a drink girly and going on dialysis sucks. I used to show up to work with three different drinks(coffee, 40 ounce of water and a drink for lunch) and still want to get home and crush some juice 😂 (I love juice like a little kid) but now I have to limit my fluid intake or I’ll look like Violet from W***y Wonky 🫐

Just a little update. I am still actively listed at Sentara, VCU , UVA , John Hopkins and Inova. I do not have any matches that have been approved for surgery yet and still very much need a kidney.
Fortunately I haven’t had anything too crazy happen with my dialysis or health. It’s all a waiting game and I rather not push it.

Happy birthday to my best friend,my wife, my partner in life, the most resilient, stunningly beautiful person inside and out, pro lemonade maker, baker extraordinaire, best dog mom, biggest smile and an even bigger heart. I love you more everyday. I hope you had a good day 😘🎂💙

Jen Lewis helped spread awareness thank you ❤️

What is lupus like for those living with the disease? Lupus: you’ve likely heard of it, but do you know what it is? It is an autoimmune disorder that’s difficult to describe, diagnose and treat.

Pig kidney transplanted into living person for first time - KESQ By Brenda Goodman, CNN (CNN) — Doctors have performed the first transplant of a genetically modified kidney from a pig into a living human, they announced Thursday. The four-hour surgery was performed Saturday at Massachusetts General Hospital, which was also the first hospital to perform a kidney...

January 2015 diagnosed with Lupus nephritis

The implantable bioartificial kidney will require pre-clinical testing before we can begin studies in human patients. Last year, our team published a paper in Toxins, a peer-reviewed academic journal, to report on the successful development of a pre-clinical model of kidney failure that will allow us to test our device prototypes. The images show the version of the hemofilter device that was tested in the experiments mentioned in the paper.

To learn more about the progress we have made so far, read our paper here: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/15/9/547

To give: bit.ly//Givetokidney

Facebook: ArtificialKidney

Instagram/Threads:

Twitter:

YouTube: TheKidneyProject

We went to VCU today for a kidney transplant evaluation. It sounds like they move quick at VCU. The nurse was mentioning possibly being listed in a few weeks which is much faster than other locations. That is 3 confirmed listings (sentara norfolk, UVA, INOVA) and 2 pending listings (John Hopkins, VCU).

Donor sign-up Phone numbers and the new link for VCU:
John Hopkins
410-614-9345

Inova - Fairfax
410-842-0700

UVA
434-243-5610

VCU
Www.VCUhealth.org/kidneydonor

Sentara
Sentara.donorscreen.org

Hello everyone! Please call UVA Transplant Center to get set up to be a donor for me!
UVA - 434-243-5610
If you couldn’t be a donor at Sentara for me please try UVA.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

February is a great month!
I have an appt at John Hopkins University. I’ve waited about 8 months for this appt.
I also have an appt at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). I again waited 1 year for this appointment.
I’m also going to be apart of John Hopkins research study on the frailty in end-stage renal disease. They want to understand how kidney disease has impacted my life prior to having a kidney transplant.

This morning when I was getting ready for work, I noticed that Katisha’s drain line had blood in it. So I woke her up at 6:30am to tell her. She woke up and called the on call nurse with Davita. By 9am she was at the ER. She’s now admitted.

Today was her day off. 😕 she now has to miss work tomorrow. I know that’s not how she planned her day to go. If it was me I’d be throwing a fit.

But she’s still smiling.💙

We will update when we hear more from the doctor in the morning.

To sign up to be a Kidney Donor

Sentara - sentara.donorscreen.org

UVA - 434-243-5610

These are two different lists. You can pick which one you’d like to sign up with. Or both.
Thank you!

I am going to be honest I’m a brutally scared about doing a transplant. I will not have to do dialysis anymore however, I will have to depend on this medication for the rest of my life. The medication has to be taken on time or can cause rejection. I heard kidney transplant patients get UTI a lot. I want to still have children and I’ve joined a support group for transplant organs patient who have children after transplants and they give me so much hope.
Everyone is different and my body always likes to take the hard road ahead. I’m praying and hoping that I can have a smooth transplant recovery and within a few years have my rainbow transplant baby. I’m constantly thinking about the future but that’s all I can look forward to. 

Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a good holiday season. It is our favorite time of year.

We want to thank everyone that has signed up to be a donor. Words can’t explain how much you are appreciated❤️. If you have signed up to be a donor could you send us a message so we can keep track of people on our end too. We understand that Sentara has a lot going on so we want to make sure we’re keeping track as well.

Thank you to everyone who has shared and liked and helped make our story heard. I hope this year will be Katisha’s year and I appreciate you all helping me make it happen.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR SHARING AND SPREADING THE WORD!!
IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME!

Jen Lewis with Channel 3 Wtkr aired our story this morning!! We will be sharing the link soon. Please share share share! ❤️Thank you

This is very cool. They are trying to move into human clinical trials.

Just some reading today.

KATISHA STILL NEEDS A KIDNEY!

Sentara donor sign up
Sentara.donorscreen.org

UVA donor sign up
434-243-5610

Although kidney transplantation is currently the most successful method for treating kidney disease, the lack of kidney donors and issues with matching donors make it difficult for kidney patients to receive a transplant. The need for new solutions has prompted researchers from all over the world to work on alternative treatments for kidney disease.

Pharmacy Times published an article that features these solutions, which include The Kidney Project’s implantable bioartificial kidney.

Read the article here: https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/implantable-artificial-kidneys-an-alternative-treatment-method-for-kidney-disease

To give: bit.ly//Givetokidney

Instagram/Facebook/Threads: ArtificialKidney

Twitter: KidneyProject

YouTube: TheKidneyProject

These couple weeks have been super busy so I missed some posts. Donor sign up links are at the bottom.

BIG NEWS!!!!!! Jen Lewis and News channel 3 stopped by our house!!! They interviewed Katisha and went through a setup with us. The tentative air date of the interview is December 20th.

Jen seemed to be on the same page as us with wanting to raise awareness for everyone who has to deal with the similar struggles Katisha goes through. Obviously my main focus now is Katisha but if we could help other people that would be Amazing. Big goals require small steps. So we will see what we can do.

THANK YOU!!! If you liked, commented, shared you helped us get our voice heard. For that I don’t think words can explain our gratitude.

Sentara Transplant Center sign up
Http://sentara.donorscreen.org

UVA donor sign up
434-243-5610

Photo is from Halloween 2021. Before dialysis.

This picture is Katisha one of her first times coming to see me play. We pulled her on stage to play the washboard.

These photos are more or less to put into perspective who katisha is and how wonderful she is. I could go on about how great she is and why she deserves a kidney transplant. My hopes are that you can see it in the photos and don’t have to read everything I write.

Sentara transplant center sign up
Http://sentara.donorscreen.org

UVA donor sign up
434-243-5610

As always thank you for sharing and helping

Katisha here
Kidney disease doesn’t affect just me but my loved ones. My husband, my family and my friends. Taylor has been there for every doctors appointment, every surgery, every hospital stay. He’s my rock and I couldn’t get through kidney failure without him. I couldn’t do dialysis without him.
I know once I have my kidney transplant that our life together will flourish even more.

Please share and help me find a match.

Sentara Norfolk
Http://Sentara.donorscreen.org/

University of Virginia Donator Hotline
434-243-5610

The picture below is when Taylor propose to me in front of the Rockefeller tree in NYC🌲 We waited 4 hours in the COLD to see the lighting of the tree 😂 if anyone knows me, I do not like the cold 🥶

Below is a picture when Katisha was pregnant. Katisha was diagnosed with stage three kidney failure and lupus in 2015 all at the same time. For years it was steady at stage three. In 2022 we found out we were pregnant we were head over heels excited.
However, the pregnancy ended up taking a drastic toll on her kidney sending her straight into kidney failure. The end result was a miscarriage at 15 weeks and end stage renal failure.

Katisha ended up going into labor before the schedule surgery and halfway delivered her.
In order to have a chance at children in the future Katisha must receive a kidney transplant. Please help this become a reality.

share and help find Katisha find a kidney.

Norfolk transplant center
Http://sentara.donorscreen.org

UVA donor sign up
434-243-5610

Todays photo is Katisha in turnout gear. I’m happy her and our dog jazz get to come up and visit. It makes work feel more like home.

I know it’s a hassle to sign up to become a donor. It might be frustrating when you just want to help but have to fill out all kinds of paperwork and try to answer questions you don’t know the answers to. You might have questions about what being a donor looks like for you. PLEASE reach out to me or Katisha if this is you. I’ll sit on the phone with you while you fill out the paperwork if it makes it easier for you.

Sentara donor sign up
Http://sentara.donorscreen.org

UVA donor sign up
434-243-5610

Thank you to everyone who has helped, wanted to help or thought about helping. We appreciate all of the help. Thank you a million more times.

This is Katisha when she graduated from Sentara College of Health Sciences with almost all A’s. Her hard work landed her name on the Melissa Anne Carpenter Award that is displayed today in the college. You can see the difference in her face in this photofrom others ones. The puffy cheeks are from a medication called prednisone. Puffy cheeks or not this was a proud moment for katisha and rightfully so.

Http://sentara.donorscreen.org

The link is to sign up to be considered to be a donor at sentara norfolk. Everything is covered and shouldn’t come out of your pocket. Since we have to have Medicare to be placed on a transfer list. That also covers the potential donor for life with anything related to the surgery and being a kidney donor.

434-243-5610
This phone number is to sign up to be a donor at UVA.

Thank you all for sharing. We will keep you updated with more info as we get it.

So we have received some good news. It sounds like news channel 3 wants to do a story on Katisha and her journey to find a kidney donor.

WE CAN ALL SMILE ABOUT THIS!

THIS IS GREAT NEWS!!!!!! Thank you to everyone who shared and liked these posts. You all made a difference. I hope we can keep the momentum going and continue to raise awareness for people with lupus, who need organ donations and people on dialysis.

Photo is from our most recent trip to Arizona.
It’s taken in lower antelope canyon. Thank you all again for helping. Please continue to share and read these posts. We appreciate it more than I can put in words.

Another one of my favorite photos.

Sitting on the tailboard of the best engine in the city. We rode a call into the hospital and it just so happened Katisha was at Sentara Leigh working so we got to see each other.

Katisha has since gone to working part time but still loves what she does and looks forward to going back full time.

Http://Sentara.donorscreen.org

This is the link to sign up to be a donor. There’s many ways to donate. There’s a paired kidney exchange that allows someone to donate that may not be a match for katisha but for someone else. “Kidney swap” is the idea.

*side note
The Kidney Project is a cool project that’s attempting to build artificial kidneys. If you want to read some cool stuff about kidneys.

Thanks for sharing and helping raise awareness for this page and what its like to live with PD dialysis. We appreciate all the help.

Todays post is a little late.

This is me and katisha at the blue ridge tunnel. This is also before katisha was on dialysis.

I’m kinda tired and don’t have a mouthful of words to say but I just wanna thank everyone for helping us. I can’t explain how much it really means to me and I’m sure to katisha.