A personal plea for a donated kidney

I am a local, La Crescenta woman in need of a kidney donation. I am a wife and the mother of a very active 9-year-old girl. I am writing this letter in efforts to make a plea to the readers of the Valley Sun. Organ donation is a miraculous gift that can be given before death.

In order to survive without any kidneys, I have to undergo peritoneal dialysis every day, which I do at home, using a portable machine. At times over the past year, I have also had to go on hemodialysis at the dialysis center for hours at a time. While on hemodialysis, my energy level fluctuates so severely that on days I have dialysis, I can’t plan any activities due to my weakened state.

I have been in and out of the hospital more than a dozen times in the last year because of complications related to my condition. Each time I am admitted into the hospital, I become more concerned about how my daughter will react. Her well-being is more important to me than my own health. Currently, I am unable to continue my volunteer work at Dunsmore Elementary, where my daughter is in fourth grade.

If your readers have signed the organ and tissue donation section on their driver’s licenses, they need to know that it doesn’t guarantee that their request will be honored. Their tissues may not be viable and their loved ones can always deny this gift-giving attempt. If someone wants to donate a kidney or other life-saving tissue, it’s best to do so while they are healthy.

I am blood type O positive. If your readers know of someone who is interested in making a kidney donation, please contact Jennifer Makely, Donor Coordinator at UCLA Medical Center, at (310) 794-2857 or contact me at: pammin@gmail.com.

Pamela Huddleston

La Crescenta