My name is Deborah Lestenkof, I'm a 38 year mom of four living in Anchorage, Alaska.
When I was five years old, my mother took me to get registered for kindergarten, where I had to pass a physical in order to complete registration. They found my blood pressure was extremely high, and I was rushed to the nearest Children's hospital for many tests.
The doctors simply found that my kidneys were getting worse, calling it "chronic glomerulnephritis", not really knowing the cause. I was put on high blood pressure medicine at the age of 5, and was told I would one day lose all function of my kidneys.
When I turned 23, two years after giving birth to my oldest son, Jesse, my kidneys completely failed. None of my family members matched my blood type, so I was put on the cadaver transplant list. I begain peritoneal dialysis and continued this for five years, until I got the call for a kidney tranplant in Seattle, Washington.
My transplanted kidney lasted 6 wonderful years until sadly they began to go into rejection. I lost my transplanted kidney and found myself back on dialysis. I've been on dialysis 4 years now, and am currently on the transplant list.
I need a transplant fund set up to cover all my travel, meals and extended stay expenses while staying in Seattle during my transplant time. While my insurance covers the surgery, it won't cover travel expenses such as airfare, meals, taxi or cab fares, etc while I'm staying in Seattle. I am raising funds so I can pay for my ticket once I get the call, as well as paying for meals, trips to the doctor, etc for the 6 weeks or so that I have to stay in Seattle.
My nephrologist that currently treats me, and has treated me for the past 18 years, is Peter Hulman at Providence Hospital, Anchorage, Alaska.
My transplant team is headed by Jessica Buck, Virginia Mason, Seattle, WA.
Thank you for your time and thoughtfulness, anything helps! God bless.
~Deb Lestenkof