it was my junior year that I really started feeling different it became pretty obvious
that the condition I had was starting to very much impact my life on a physical level felt
this total loss of energy all the time and I wasn't able to focus as well anymore I didn't
get to graduate from University of Richmond was I had to withdraw I knew that it would eventually
be an inevitability that I would have to get a kidney transplant but it didn't come a reality
until I started dialysis and I was put on a transplant list here at Northwestern Memorial
Hospital the program here at Northwestern medicine has really been a leader in the field our program
has really focused on living donation and it takes a lot of coordinated effort from a large
team to be able to do that we provide access to certain therapies that aren't available at
other transplant centers we are a destination transplant program where people who come from
not only around the country but around the world for our expertise in transplant care we also
participate in our national kidney pair donor exchange program people worry about blood type
matching and being closely related genetically is not important as long as someone is healthy
and properly motivated to donate to an individual that will result in a transplant that is going
to work extremely well so the qualifications to be a donor I always say are healthy and willing
a lot of our evaluation is to make sure that someone is very healthy at the moment but also
as far as we can see into the future they don't have an excess risk of kidney disease or other
problems it was hard knowing that my boyfriend who was sick was back home I knew we were in the
same blood type because we used to tonyia blood together in high school but he never asked me
to donate he kind of tried to steer me away from it but at this point some of family members had
been ruled out as possible donors I sort of felt like we were stuck I submitted my questionnaire
to be a living donor I had so many questions I think education is really important helping
people have that conversation as part of what we do here to get them comfortable asking for
gift of donation being a donor is safe it's very effective it's the best form of kidney
replacement therapy for a recipient and I've seen the tremendous impact that a transplant
can make we keep tabs on them along the way and make sure they're still eligible for a transplant
we sometimes have they'll come back and visit us periodically and waiting for that day and that
awesome phone call where we get to bring him in and give him their transplant it had just finished
class and I got a phone call and they told me we were matched I think I hung up I cried and then
I called him I was in disbelief that somebody would be willing to do something so selfless
getting people through a transplant is a long and complicated process and seeing them do
well through that is obviously very important I don't think I have ever had nurses as nice as
the ones I had it here at Northwestern Memorial Hospital the doctors right from the get-go they
were very very helpful the Hispanic transplant team they have is one of the best resources for
Hispanic people they just went above and beyond at Northwestern Memorial Hospital we have pioneered
that particularly in the Hispanic population in trying to develop a culturally sensitive
program to educate people about the importance of living donor transplantation for me is a
healthcare professional here at Northwestern Memorial Hospital that's what makes me want to
get up in the morning it keeps me going the impact that we can make on people's lives the experience
we've gained over the years of being one of the biggest living donor kidney transplant programs
in the country really we hope to pass that experience on to our patients with excellent
outcomes and increased opportunities that they may not have other places now thankfully
I pursuing my bachelor's in chemistry so this is definitely my second chance you