“I had my first kidney transplant in 2002 when I was 33. My older sister gave it to me, and I was healthy for 14 years. Then I had a virus that damaged my kidney, and I went from about 150 pounds to 100 pounds in four weeks. My kidney function was gradually getting worse and worse. I stayed tired and nauseated all the time. I never even left my house. I was afraid to go somewhere because I thought I would then just have to go lie down.
“When I needed my first transplant, my twin sister had been really torn up because she wasn’t a match. So when I got sick the second time and she saw a poster for the kidney chain, she asked me, ‘What is that?’ I told her, and she jumped right on that, telling my doctors, ‘Look, I want to do this. Tell me what I need to do.’ She was just tickled to death that she might be able to help this time.
“They had put in a fistula for dialysis; but I never had to use it, because after my sister went through all the tests and found out she was qualified to give, it wasn’t long before they called and said they’d found a match for her and for me.
“I admit I was a little worried at first when I knew it was going to be from a stranger, and then I put it in my head that it was going to work. It had to work. I made myself stay positive with it.
“Afterward, I met my kidney donor. It was really emotional. Since then, I talk to her online sometimes. It really blows my mind how the kidney chain works. My sister wasn’t able to give a kidney to me; but with this program, she could give someone else a chance, and in turn I got another chance.
“My quality of life is improved 100 percent. I can come and go, and I’m not tired. The only thing I deal with is that some mornings I still get a little sick; but other than that, I’m fine. I can take care of my 1-year-old grandbaby. I would never have even attempted to care for her before. It’s just like a whole turnaround.
“If I hadn’t been the one getting a kidney, I would definitely have wanted to donate. I would donate in a heartbeat to help somebody else.”
Jerri Whitehead - 60
“I was a little worried at first when I knew it was going to be from a stranger, and then I put it in my head that it was going to work."