- I donated my kidney to my boyfriend, and he cheated on me.
And this is that story.
This all started in the beginning of 2015.
So we met through mutual friends.
He was really cute and outgoing and,
oh, God, sorry.
We would take turns making drives
to see each other and hang out.
And then, early on, he told me
he had chronic kidney disease and Crohn's disease.
So he had to connect to a machine every night
to filter out his kidneys.
At that time, he was 27 and had it for 10 years.
Just knowing that his kidney function was already below 5%,
it made me have this urgency to help him.
I didn't wanna wait to, you know,
have his condition get worse,
or he could have passed away too.
In order to donate, you have to be in good health.
They have to do tests
to make sure your body can survive with just one kidney.
And so, I had to do a bunch of tests
to see if I was a match.
Probably around three, four months going to his doctor
and getting blood work done and a glucose test,
different types of scans, and then in November,
that's when I got the call.
The doctors told me my body was ready to go,
and I was ready for surgery.
So I was the one who chose the date to be May 23rd
because 23 is my favorite number.
I was born on December 23rd,
and Michael Jordan's my favorite player, so.
I was tempted to YouTube the procedure before just to see,
just to get an idea what my body's gonna go through.
But I didn't, and I'm glad I didn't.
Surgery was pretty easy.
They put me under anesthesia,
so I was knocked out the whole time.
Once I woke up, I just remember
waking up to tubes in my mouth,
and they tried feeding me like, you know,
ice cubes, and I almost threw up.
But other than that, I just went back to sleep.
And it took me about two weeks to recover,
like, to feel back to normal.
So my doctor only recommended me to not drink,
you know, a lot.
I don't drink a lot anyways -so it wasn't really
a big sacrifice to me- and to not do physical sports,
like boxing.
And I was totally okay with that.
So for him, his lifestyle change;
they took the tube out of his stomach,
so he didn't have to go do dialysis anymore.
He just had to take anti-rejection pills and pain medicine.
His family was really grateful, and they cried a lot.
It just felt great for the both of us.
A few months after the surgery,
my boyfriend went to a bachelor party in Vegas
with some of his Christian friends.
His best friend was getting married.
He was texting me throughout the trip
how much he didn't wanna be there
and how much he just wanted to read the Bible.
And then I responded to him like,
"No, just enjoy yourself.
You know, you don't really go to Vegas too often and,
you know, you're with your friends,
you don't have to go onto dialysis anymore.
So, you know, just have fun."
I didn't think anything was gonna happen in Vegas
because he portrayed himself as a really religious man.
And he stuck to his morals throughout the relationship.
And so I thought this was just a regular weekend.
On the Sunday that he was coming home,
he came to my house unannounced,
panic in his eyes and just, like, pale.
Like, he looked really scared.
And I was just confused on what happened.
And then that's when he admitted to the cheating.
He admitted to doing things
with some of the bachelorette party.
It's funny cause those girls knew who I am.
And I know one of them was a close friend to mine too,
and I was just broken.
And then after he came and confessed what he did,
I had to go to work.
I had to go to work at Disneyland,
the happiest place on earth.
I was scheduled to work at the churro cart at Pixar Pier,
and I really didn't wanna cry in front of the guests.
One of my coworkers knew something was wrong,
and then he asked, "Are you okay?" and that triggered me.
The tears just fell down my face,
and I just couldn't stop crying.
And then my lead let me go home for the night.
I thought about it for a while,
and I decided to try to make things work.
Maybe he deserved another chance.
Maybe we can work it out and make it,
make it happen for us.
And after everything that happened,
it definitely hurt my trust issues with him.
And it was hard to trust again,
especially when I thought
he wouldn't do anything behind my back.
It did lead to a lot of fighting and insecurities.
We fought a lot about me not giving him enough trust,
and it just felt repetitive.
It really took a toll on our relationship.
One day we were fighting about him resenting me
of not being forgiving fast enough,
and in the middle of the argument,
he wanted to stop and read the Bible together.
I was like, "No, can we, kind of,
just talk like regular people?
And that's when he just shut down and pretty much said like,
"Oh, if God wanted us to be together,
then he'll bring us back together in the end." and hung up.
After he hung up on me, he blocked me on social media,
and yeah, just completely cut me out.
I felt really hurt that he could just, you know,
throw me out of his life like that.
I would work at Disneyland five days a week,
and it was kind of hard to, you know,
keep that smile throughout my shift.
But I decided to make peace with the situation
and decided to stop trying to contact him.
Even after everything has happened,
I still don't regret donating my kidney to him.
Despite the trauma and the heartbreak
that I had to go through,
it did lead me to a better life,
and that's how I met my current boyfriend.
I'm with someone who really loves me unconditionally.
I haven't been happier. I'm not mad at him.
I don't hold any grudges against him.
I only wish him well and for him to live a happy life.
I don't want my kidney back.
Go ahead and have it, and make sure you treat it well.
(gentle upbeat music)