Uh, well, I started feeling almost sore, like I had
been running, so I would, I went to my primary at that
time and I was like hey, there's, I think
there's something wrong.
They did a biopsy and that's when I officially got diagnosed
with chronic kidney failure.
So, 27 and going through a kidney transplant, so.
So I first met Carla in 2013, and she came to me for
evaluation of protein in the urine.
At that time her kidney function was normal, but it was
abnormal to have protein in the urine.
So we did a kidney biopsy and on the biopsy it
showed IgA nephropathy.
For whatever reason, I'd say like two years ago,
I completely crashed, like I dropped almost 10, 20,
30 percent function.
To me, my world just kept feeling like it was getting
smaller and smaller.
And I got in a very, very dark place.
I definitely noticed that she was down.
And I think a lot of it had to do with the unknown of,
you know, yes, there are people being tested, I think.
But now we're talking about dialysis.
And that's very scary for everybody.
So we sit and talk with them, and explain the process.
And we we tell them to sit and talk with their
family and friends.
Sometimes people come forward altruistically to say, listen,
I didn't know you had kidney failure, but I'm happy
to give you a kidney.
I think it came up like a decent amount,
like in high school, that she had like health problems.
But it wasn't until, like later on that a new, like it was like
more serious or that it was like a kind of an ongoing thing
that wasn't just going to resolve itself.
And then I think it wasn't until like January of this year
that it like, that she like brought it to our attention,
that like it would come to needing a transplant.
So in the beginning, it really was a lot of being reluctant.
And I, you know, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it,
right?
Thinking that I had all this time just because, again,
we've been doing this since 2013.
So in my head, I'm like yeah, we got another 10 years,
you know, no biggie.
Well, that really wasn't the case.
So I sent out a mass text to everyone that had expressed an
interest before of like, if you need a kidney, I got you.
I mean I thought about it for a while.
And then kind of just as it went along, I just kind of
thought like, oh, well, there's no harm in just like
getting the test done just to see, like, I'd rather know
at least if we're a match, and then ...
I was at work and he was the one that actually called me and
was like, hey, I'm, I'm a match.
I got the green, I got the green flag.
I'm officially able to, to donate to you.
And I was like, oh, my God,
I don't know.
I don't know that a lot of words were said, but it was
just a lot of emotion that you could feel like in both of us,
like a sense of relief and excitement, nervousness,
just everything at that moment, yeah.
Honestly, Caleb coming in to save the day, it really was a,
I don't know, I don't think it's fully hit me yet.
When they were trying to put the IV in, that's when it
really hit me.
I was like, oh, my God, this is actually happening.
I just feel like I'm in a good place to, like, finally take
this step and get my life started.
Caleb is absolutely a hero.
You know, by coming forward like this, he's saved his
best friend's life.
But he's also sent a message to other people that kidney
donation is possible and it's safe, and that other
patients could benefit from this.