Please Save Mary!
Friends call her "Fun Size"
Please Save My Sister
Living Kidney Donor Needed
Mary Spent Her Life Helping People Through Their Most Difficult Moments. Now She Needs Your Help.
Please Save My Daughter
Please Save My Sister
Please Save My Friend
TESTIMONIAL
“Even with everything Mary is going through, she still remembers our birthdays. She still sends cards. She still sends gifts. That tells you everything about her: dialysis changed her life, but it never changed the way she loves people.”
-Puja Chhabra
What Donors Want to Know
What are the real risks of donating a kidney? Will this shorten my life?
Kidney donation is major surgery and, like any surgery, the risk isn't zero. However, based on the latest research, the risk is in the range of a tonsillectomy or appendectomy. For the latest research, see Q&A under Donor Protect 360.
How can I survive with one kidney?
Our kidneys are the ONLY organ in the human body with a built-in spare. After donation, your remaining kidney grows up to 20% and takes over the job of two.
What if something happens to my remaining kidney after donation?
UW Medicine partners with the National Kidney Registry which provides a "lifetime safety net" so, in the rare case something happens to your kidney, you are prioritized for a new living kidney.
I can't afford medical costs, "time off" from work and the out-of-pocket expenses.
First, your medical expenses are covered by the patient's insurance. Second, you are reimbursed for lost wages (up to $2,000 per week, $24,000 max) and expenses (up to $6,000) through your transplant hospital's partnership with the National Kidney Registry's Donor Shield Program.
The chances I'm a match seem small. Why bother at all?
Not a match? Doesn't matter - you still save the patient's life through "paired kidney donation" and maybe even more!
Watch CBS News and see a real kidney donor explain how it works.
A Letter From Mary
I DREAM of becoming a FOSTER MOM.
First, I need a living kidney donor to give me the chance to get there.
I've spent most of my career in healthcare, helping patients and families through difficult moments. Today, I am still working full time while managing dialysis—and I have been waiting more than two years for a transplant.
Kidney disease runs through my family. My brother John and I inherited it from our mother, and it has shaped both of our lives. I once hoped to have children of my own, but I chose not to risk passing the disease on.
I never stopped wanting to be a mom.
Given the chance, I would still love to foster children someday. Kidney disease may have changed my path, but it has not changed my goal of building a family. And if children are not in the cards, I already know a few four-legged family members will be.
My friends call me “Fun Size” because I am under five feet tall—and I have the T-shirts to prove it. I am the friend who brings cupcakes, a former salsa dancer with a long travel list, and a serious foodie who loves everything from sushi to soul food. Music makes life better. Flowers make me happy. And after years in the Pacific Northwest, I feel most at home near the water.
Dialysis has put too much of that life on hold. Travel is harder. Food is more complicated. Energy is limited. But I keep working, stay close to John and the people I love, and have leaned more deeply into my faith.
A living kidney transplant would give me something simple but life-changing: becoming a Mom.
- Mary
TESTIMONIAL
“Mary has a rare gift: she makes people feel loved, comfortable and seen. Even on dialysis, when her own energy and freedom are being taken from her, she still worries about everyone else. Kidney disease has taken plenty. It has not taken Mary.”
— Alicia Smith
Watch why donation really matters
Anyone Can Be A Living Kidney Donor
TESTIMONIAL
“Mary is far more comfortable being the helper than the person asking for help. That is what makes this moment so hard. She has spent years caring for family, friends, colleagues and strangers. Now the helper needs help.”
— Jee & Kory Kuriel
Have You Ever Seen a MIRACLE Happen?
TESTIMONIAL
“Mary has spent her life showing up for everyone else—giving her time, love and support without keeping score. She has one of the biggest hearts I know. Now the woman who never waits to be asked needs someone to show up for her.”
— Leilani Mendoza
