You just never know...

You just never know when something that you've been through, or something that you are going through can impact the lives of others. Many of you know that I was diagnosed with a rare, auto-immune disease when I was sixteen that eventually destroyed my kidneys. This is something that you wouldn't know by looking at me , and is something I don't broadcast on a daily basis. However, it's been amazing through the years just how many people I've been able to help and encourage who are going through something similar to what I've been through. I've talked with other Wegener's patients and told them there IS a light at the end of the tunnel, that this disease CAN go into remission. I've talked with lots of kidney patients about transplants and hopefully been able to encourage them and answer questions about the surgery, the medicines, side-effects, etc. Recently I discovered that one of my board member's wives has had kidney disease for 7 years and is going to have a transplant. I was so happy to be able to talk to her about everything from weight gain post-transplant to hair loss to when you can have children after transplants. Like I said, this is not something I usually broadcast to people, but God always seems to place these people in my path. And I'm grateful for that. It makes everything I've been through worth it. Here and here are a couple of stories our local paper did about us: to raise awareness of kidney disease and to help raise money for this family. And her day is finally here! She will be having her transplant tomorrow! The really neat thing about this story is that her donor is a friend, not a relative. What an amazing story of hope, life and selflessness. I hope this is an inspiration to you all!