Help us find a Kidney for Stephanie
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What's New
December 4, 2012
So . . . who is the donor???
We are being asked this question all the time. The truth is that's not an easy question to answer but I'm going to try.
Steph had someone who was willing to donor a kidney to her but they were not a match. The hospital put Steph and her donor into the National Kidney Register in hopes of matching them up with others who are in the same situation (they also have a willing donor but their donor isn't a match to them). Basically, my donor gives you a kidney and in turn, your donor gives me a kidney. In Steph's situation there were 4 sets of recipients/donors involved to make the circle complete.
We are told the person who donated on Steph's behalf has had their surgery and are doing well. The person who donated a kidney to Steph is also doing well. Due to confidentially we can not share their names. We will just call them Angels.
By the way, Steph was released from the hospital today . . . YEAH!!!!!!
December 1, 2012
Team Steph visited with Stephanie on Saturday. I think Steph's room was the crowdest on that floor (I know it was the loudest).
When Team Steph gets together you sometimes need ear plugs.
Steph looks great and says she can already tell the difference in her body and energy level. Apparently dialysis helps filter your blood but can not 100% replace what your kidney does. I did not know this. This gives me a greater appreciation for people who need dialysis and a am very thankful that I have functioning kidneys.
Steph and hubby and son (below)
Team Steph and Tang (below)
Steph with proud parents (below)
Steph and son (below)
November 30, 2012
Steph went into surgery around 4pm on Wednesday, November 28th. About 11pm she was tired but awake and was able to talk. I am told just ten minutes after the kidney was attached it started to function. Thursday morning Steph was up and walking.
It is hard to put into words the emotions I am going through as I write this. To see my friend go through this eight year journey and to finally get a kidney is truly a miracle.
Most of you do not personally know Steph. She is one of the most unselfish people I know. As I think back I have never once in eight years heard her complain about her situation. Even with doing dialysis three times a week she continued to be a mom, a wife, a co-worker, a friend. She is just the most amazing person.
I will be posting more information about the surgery, the donor(s) and pics. Please continue to visit this site.
November 18, 2012
Miracles do happen. Everything happened so fast I can hardly believe it. Steph will be receiving a kidney before the end of this year!!!! I wish I could give you every detail but due to confidentially I can not at this time. Please keep Steph and everyone involved in the transplant in your thoughts and prayers. Steph needs our prayers now more than ever.
To be continued . . .
October 25, 2012
The weather is cooling and the leaves are falling. It's hard to believe trick or treating is next week and Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. I really thought 2012 was going to be the year. The year that Steph gets her kidney and her life could go back to being somewhat normal. It's been eight years since Steph's first donated kidney failed.
Steph recently had another surgery to the ports in her arms and she pulled through just fine.
Please keep Steph and others waiting for donated kidneys in your thoughts.
June 17, 2012
As I’m updating this website I realize I hadn’t posted since April 4th. Time flies by so fast. I think of everything I’ve done (or didn’t do) in the last couple of months. Then I think of Stephanie and realize that since I last posted on April 4th she has had 32 dialysis appointments. WOW . . . 32!!! That’s a lot of appointments in ten and a half weeks. At four hours an appointment that’s 128 hours!! I could not imagine adding 128 hours to my life since April 4th . And that’s not 128 hours of fun stuff. That’s 128 hours just to stay alive. I wish I could give Steph those 128 hours back.
No, we have not found a donor yet. We are in the mist of creating another billboard which we hope to run during the summer. We need your help with the wording for the new billboard. Please send any ideas you have. It must be short, sweet and an attention grabber.
Please send us your ideas for a new billboard!!
April 4, 2012
Hello Everyone,
On April 2nd a fundraiser was held at Steph’s work with monies raised going towards medical expenses. I am happy to report that over $8000 was raised!!! Can you believe that??!! The outpouring of support was unbelievable. A local TV station WBAY sent a reporter to cover the fundraiser and we made the 6pm evening news http://www.wbay.com/story/17325655/2012/04/03/thrivent-financial-employee-seeks-kidney-donor.
A great big THANK YOU to all of Steph’s coworkers for bringing in baked goods, donating silent auction items, bidding on items and volunteering their time. Steph couldn’t work with a greater group of people.
News coverage of this fundraiser has increased traffic to this website and we have new people requesting information on being a possible donor. The transplant center continues to test potential donors . . . and now they may have even more people to test!!
We will keep you posted.
March 8, 2012
Soooo . . . Do we have a donor yet?
To be truthful, we just don't know yet. Many potential donors have come forward to be tested. A handful of potential donors made it through the initial round. We are now to the point where the transplant center takes the potential donor's cells and Steph's cells and puts them in a petri dish together. Basically to see if the cells 'play nice' together. So far no one's cells 'plays 100% nice' with Steph's cells. That's the not so great news. However, they still have more potential donors to test. That's the good news. We still have hope that a donor can be found from the group of people who have already come forward. The transplant center can not rush this process. We must be patient and hope.
Thank you so much for continuing to follow Steph's progress.
January 25, 2012
Hello Everyone,
First of all I want to thank each of you for following my progress and for all your support. I truly feel that I am not alone on this journey.
My awesome friend Joy (one member of Team Steph) accompanied me to Milwaukee on Jan 5th so I could do some tests and reacquaint myself with the transplant team. I had not seen the majority of them since 2004 (when my transplanted kidney failed). The good news is my tests went well!! The transplant team is a wonderful group of people! It was wonderful to see Deb again after all these years. She has been my coordinator during this time and while we exchange emails and the occasional phone call, it was great to see her!! I finally got to meet Stephanie who is working very hard on my behalf and the potential donors to move things along as quickly as she can. In addition to these folks, I was able to meet with the social worker and pharmacist. Great strides have been made in the last 20 years around rejection drugs and how to treat patients post-transplant. It was a very positive day for me.
Due to confidentiality the transplant team could not share specific donor details with me. However, we do know they are doing everything in their power to move potential donors along as fast as they can. We will share whatever information we can as soon as we know it.
Thanks to all of you who have come forward to be tested and to all others who have wished us well in our endeavors.
God Bless,
Stephanie
January 1, 2012 - Happy New Year!!
Did You Know . . . dialysis doesn't take a holiday. Many of us visited family in other cities and states over the holidays. Some of us may have stayed two or three days to visit. That is not the case for Steph. Steph makes three trips to the dialysis center weekly. She can not miss an appointment. Her life depends on it. After seven years of dealing with dialysis we're hoping 2012 is Steph's year.
Stay tuned. Steph has an appointment at the transplant center on January 5th. All potential donor information is confidential so we have no idea what they will tell her but we are hoping for good news.
December 25 - Merry Christmas!!!!
Yes, it is a very merry Christmas. The donor process is continuing. Steph has informed me that there is a 'group' of potential donors who have made it through the initial screening and are onto the next level of testing. This next level of testing will take several weeks to complete. We are hopeful that the donor is in this group. The transplant center has contacted Steph and she will be traveling to the transplant center on January 5th for evaluation should a donor be identified.
During this Christmas season please add these potential donors to your prayer list. These people have the true meaning of Christmas in their hearts.
How did people hear about Steph's story -
Billboard on Hwy 41 10
TV news 102
Steph's work 11
CNN.com 25
Facebook 23
other/unknown 25
Hometown area 11
Friend email 3
November 2011
Nov 25 Hi this is Steph's mom and dad. We are so excited that this is all happening. We just want to thank everyone that is visiting this site and all of those who have inquired or are just tracking the progress. If you have inquired please be patient that it is a slow process. We especially want to thank "Team Steph". Steph is so fortunate to have such great friends. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and wonderful Christmas!
Nov 24 - Happy Thanksgiving!! We have so much to be thankful for. Numerous people have initiated the donor process. The entire donor process takes quite a while and is completely confidential. Please be assured that when appropriate we will let everyone know that a donor has been identified. Until then please keep Stephanie and her family in your prayers.
I have been informed of a wonderful story about a potential donor. This donor started the donor process which includes various medical tests. One of the tests discovered a medical condition the donor was not aware of. The bad news is this condition eliminated the donor. The good news is the donor became aware of the medical issue early enough to fix it without long-term health impacts. We knew we would be helping Steph with the billboard and website. We never dreamed we would be helping others, too.
Nov 23 - The jelly bracelets are in!!! We ordered 1600 bracelets in a variety of colors. If you want one, please fill out the information on the Contact Information page and we will do our best to get them to you.
Nov 8 - Radio station AM1100 WISS contacted us and want to discuss Steph's story on air tomorrow at 7:45am. How cool is that!! Please listen in if you can. That's tomorrow morning at 7:45am on AM1100.
Nov 6 - Here are some awesome stats.
- Website has 2000+ hits.
- Facebook has 351 likes.
- 200+ people have requested information on being a potential donor.
- Transplant center is 'flooded' with calls and are 'adding staff'.
Nov 5 - This past week has been surreal. The billboard started on Tuesday. Steph's story made the local news (WBAY.com) Wednesday night. Responses started pouring in from all over the country with people offering to be tested. Apparently Steph's story was picked up on TV stations throughout the United States. We even made CNN.com. We have potential donors from Florida, California, Texas, Nebraska and even Canada and England along with many local people. The transplant center called Stephanie Friday morning. They are flooded with calls. We're told they are 'adding staff' to handle the volume of people willing to be tested. If you have called the transplant center requesting to be tested, please be patient. We (and the transplant center) were not prepared.
Needless to say we are extremely thankful for everyone who is willing to be tested. We are also thankful to all of you who can not donate but have sent words of encouragement.
To date 200+ people have requested information on the donor process!!!
Nov 2 - Wow!! What a difference a day makes. Yesterday the billboard started. Today Channel 2 news called and wanted Steph's story for the 4pm and 6pm news. Yes, Stephanie will be on the news tonight. Please watch and continue spreading Steph's story via Facebook (FindStephAKidney.com) and this website.
Nov 1 - We have exciting news. Starting November 1st for four weeks we are running a plead for a live kidney donor on an electronic billboard. The billboard is on highway 41 near Wrightstown (between Green Bay and Appleton). You can view it going southbound right before the Out O Town Club on the left side of the highway. A big thank you to everyone who contributed to cover the cost of the billboard.
Pictured below are Team Steph - lower left to right Stephanie and Joy, upper left to right Connie and Tanya.
Team Steph ordering additional jelly bracelets.
Steph and hubby.
October 2011
We are now on Facebook. Just type in FindStephAKidney.com. Please friend us and let your friends know.
August 2011
WOW!!!! With just a little word of mouth our first person has inquired about being a donor. Of course, all names and details will be kept confidential. We are very excited.
June 2011
An image for an electronic billboard has been created which we hope to display on a major highway nearby.
January 2011
Stephanie's health has reached a stage that we are committed to finding her help.
JanuThis website is our first step to getting the word out to people.
