My Transplant Lifestyle - Welcome!

Thank you for watching this video! Join us on our new journey! Please subscribe and share to help us raise awareness for Kidney Disease! Your help means everything, please take a second to look at our GoFundMe Page below :) https://www.gofundme.com/mytransplant... Hi, my name is Monique Juarez and I am 29 years old. On February 5, 2018 on my way home from work, I received a call from my primary doctor that my blood test had come back from my yearly checkup and that I needed to head to the ER immediately, as blood test showed that my kidneys were failing. Once being admitted to the hospital and after numerous testing I was diagnosed with IGA Nephropathy, Acute Renal Failure, Hypertension, and I would need to start dialysis, as well as needing a Kidney transplant. On February 6, 2018 I received a chest catheter and was placed on Hemodialysis, 3 times a week, from 3:00a.m.-6:30a.m. Going from a normal 29 year old life to being on Hemodialysis, was a hard transition for me. The no longer feeling like myself, not having energy to face the day when hemodialysis was finished, and the restrictions that it came with was not for me. I made the decision to switch my treatment to PD Dialysis and on March 21, 2018 I went into surgery to have a PD catheter placed into my lower stomach. For the next month, I was juggling with Hemodialysis on Tues, Thurs, Sat and PD Classes Mon, Wed, Fri. Due to the change in lifestyle, I had to go on disability and take a pay cut which financially is a hardship due to the new expenses such as medicals bills, prescriptions, gas, etc. On April 13, 2018, I was permanently placed on PD dialysis meaning all my treatment will be at home, on my time (mostly nights), and I would be doing my own treatment myself. I began the transplant process on April 23, 2018, when I had my first consultation with UCLA to see if I could be a candidate for their transplant program. As of right now, I’m currently waiting for my last test to come back to see if UCLA will place me on the donor list. I’m grateful to have the family and support that I do have, my mom, brother and my boyfriend of 8 years will all be testing themselves to see if they are a match. With a lot of faith and prayer I’m hoping that one of them does come back as a match!