Rachel's Story: 
At 17 years old, I was diagnosed with a Chronic Kidney Disease known as, IgA Nephropathy. 

Until 2020, my Chronic Kidney Disease was well maintained and a minor inconvenience in my day-to-day life.  In July of 2020, I went for my annual physical and discovered I was in kidney failure and had no clue.  I received a call from my doctor on a Sunday evening at 10PM and was informed I needed to go to the hospital as soon as possible.  I had no symptoms other than feeling more tired than usual.  I would spend the next nine days at Baptist Health Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky and would go through many tests to determine why my kidney function was so poor.  Doctors were able to determine that unfortunately my IgA Nephropathy had rapidly progressed and there was likely nothing that could be done to reverse the damage.  I underwent several immunotherapy treatments to hopefully prolong my kidney function. 

By March of 2021, there were no other options but a kidney transplant and dialysis.  By the end of March, I had surgery for my Peritoneal Dialysis Catheter and would begin at-home dialysis in April of 2021.  I would begin what would be a 15 month journey on dialysis. 

Over the next year, I focused on completing all of the requirements for transplant and finding a living donor.  I knew after my first appointment that I wanted to do everything I could to find a living donor.  The wait list in Kentucky for a deceased donor is 5 to 7 years.  I utilized social media to spread my message and was lucky enough to have several people go through testing on my behalf. 

In May of 2022, my close friend Haley called me and gave me the news we had been hoping for "I am a match and will be your living donor."  I will NEVER forget how much excitement and pure joy I had in that moment.

On July 4th, I completed my final dialysis treatment.  On July 5th, I arrived at University of Kentucky for surgery.  Haley had surgery at Loyola University in Chicago and our kidney was flown from Chicago to Louisville and taken by car to Lexington.  By July 7th, my new kidney was functioning at 100%. 

This year, I have chosen to walk to raise awareness for those suffering with chronic kidney disease, for those on dialysis, for those on the transplant wait list, and to celebrate the gift of life that my friend and living donor, Haley, has given me. 

As I write this, I am celebrating 2.5 years post kidney transplant and 2.5 years of feeling like myself again. I will NEVER forget how incredibly lucky I am to have received this gift.

Why I Walk: