Hello Friends and Family,
As some of you know, I have been living with kidney disease for most of my life. I was diagnosed with kidney disease when I was pregnant with my second child. My nepherologist stated I had scarring from childhood and went undiagnosed all those years. Two years after that, my kidney problems were aggravated by chemotherapy treatments for a breast cancer diagnosis in 2000. I am now in End Stage Renal Failure. I have been doing peritoneal dialysis daily (two treatments per day) at home since March 2024. I have been approved by Mayo Clinic to receive a living kidney.
This letter is not to request that you donate, but rather a simple request for you to understand my story and help spread the word about how living donation can save my
life and the lives of many others.
My passion in life has always been working with the community. I worked 30 years for non-profits and a library, doing family and children education outreach and hands-on activities, with art and STEM being my favorites. I continue to find my peace doing arts and crochet. I miss working with my community. I also miss water activities. Since starting dialysis, I am no longer allowed to enjoy water the same way I used to. Because of my dialysis catheter, I can no longer submerge in the water. The water is my happy place, whether it be a stream, a river, a lake, or the ocean.
Please share my story with as many people as you’d like. Your willingness to share may save a life.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story.
Jody Stejskal-Johnson
Why I Need a Kidney
I have been living with kidney disease most of my life. After receiving chemotherapy due to breast cancer, my kidney function dropped and continued dropping through the years. I've been doing home dialysis treatments since March of 2024. Daily treatments take 6 to 7 hours per day. While it has become a way of life, I look forward to the days when I can leave home and not have to rush back to do treatments. Dialysis is a temporary fix for now, but a transplant would greatly improve my quality of life and prolong my life. I look forward to new adventures with my friends and family.
How You Can Help
By sharing my story to your group of family and friends, you help to increase the number of people who may consider kidney donation.
You can also support me and other patients in need of a transplant by being screened to become a kidney donor with the NKR. The process is easy to complete and potential donors have access to the NKR’s nationwide donor support network.
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