Hello my name is Belinda Kirkendall, I just turned 51, mother, wife and grandmother of 3 beautiful angels…..:). My kidney disease started 11 yrs. ago, within 4 mo. of finding out I had kidney disease I was on dialysis. Dialysis lasted 4 months, because my half sister who lived in Florida gave me a kidney. The kidney lasted 9 years. Such a shock it was when I lost the kidney, I prayed and prayed and then more prayers, but it just stopped. I told myself I would NEVER go on dialysis again. I hated it so much. It’s just not a very good quality of life. And there is so many problems that come up with dialysis. You don’t know from one day to another whats going to happen. High Blood Pressure, the diet, the fluid intake, it all is so hard to do. But when it came time to make the critical decision I looked into those big beautiful brown eyes of my 3 yr. old grandaughter. In that instant I knew I wanted to LIVE, live for those babies that I loved so much. So I started dialysis again….:( It has been a year and a half. I had several people tested but no one matched. After you have onetransplant your bodie builds up antibodies and it makes it very difficult to find one that matches. I keep praying that my kidney comes soon. So many things can go wrong on dialysis, very quickly too. I wish people understood how much a living donor does for a person. Not only does it save there life, but it saves the people who love the person needing the organ. My kidney disease has effected everyone in my family. My half-sister was only 26 when she gave me her kidney. She says she has no regrets, it was one of the most gratifying things she has ever done. And God knows how much I love and admire her for doing what she did. I know there is a kidney some where out there that matches me, a great match so I can get on with my life. I feel like I have so much more to give. I want so much to see my grandbabies grow up. So if there is anyone who would want to be tested please call Luthren Hospital, Ft. Wayne, IN / Cindy in Kidney Transplant, and tell her you would like to be tested for Belinda Kirkendall. It’s a simple blood test they send you to take to the hospital. If the intial type matches they due more test on the blood. And then they go from there. They can give you all the information you could ever need for the entire procedure. If you read this story please pray about it….and if not for me, maybe it would be for someone else in need of a kidney. God Bless! Belinda rulojk@aol.com
