This is my friend Wesley Kelly Keith. She is a great friend, stylist and human being!! She is having surgery Tue, September 28th to install her DIALYSIS port and also preparing for a KIDNEY TRANSPLANT. Money is being raised for both of her surgeries, aftercare, follow up drs care and time taken away from work to recover.  All financial help is GREATLY APPRECIATED!! PLEASE also share this post on all your platforms and with all your friends!! Thanky you!! Let’s cheer her on and support her on this journey back to full health!!! 

Here is a write up from Wesley Kelly  and her kidney journey… Hi!! I am Wesley Kelly Keith a 39-year-young Pacific northwest resident. I have been a type one diabetic for 25 years and treating chronic kidney disease for the last 3 years. Currently, I am preparing for dialysis and a transplant and would greatly appreciate your help please! 

Three years ago when I went in for a migraine research study, they did my blood work and I discovered I was in stage 3B of CKD (chronic kidney disease). I have since been working with an amazing team of naturopath and western medicine doctors to manage the disease, symptoms and various side effects.

Come January 2021, my nephrologist said that I need to be put on the national kidney transplant list and get a kidney transplant. I have been going through the screening process , which is a VERY intense, VERY detailed, slow and at times an overwhelming ordeal. There are hundreds of tests that they need to do to make sure that you are a viable candidate for a kidney. They literally test EVERYTHING from dental exams, chest and lung x-rays, EKG‘s, check out every mole on your body, extensive bloodwork, psychiatric evaluation, ultrasounds and the list goes on! Once all the testing is done I’ll be placed on the national Kidney transplant list and hopefully will also be placed on the list for a pancreas also! I am about 80% through the screening process.

Once I have been put on the national kidney transplant list, they will test my brother and see if he is a qualified donor. 

When I had to ask my brother if he would consider being a donor, I was shaking and so nervous!! Without any hesitation he told me he already decided yes. I started crying tears of thanksgiving and gratitude and I pray he is a match. He said a couple years ago when he found out that I was going through this, he decided then, if he could be my donor he would be. In the event he is not an eligible match for me, my name will remain on the list until I find a match. The average wait is 3 to 5 years. 

A cool side fact about being a donor; your kidney can be removed through laparoscopic surgery!!! I found that to be pretty amazing and also it made me feel better about his contribution that I’m not putting him and his family through weeks and months of recovery. He should be in the hospital two or three days and then back to normal life. 

It literally brings tears to my eyes to think of my brother being so selfless, kind, and saving my life, literally. We have been close our entire lives and I know that this will only bring us closer. My heart is full of extreme gratitude for him, his support, his love and his kidney!!

My doctors had wanted to avoid dialysis and thought if we were able to get me on the list fast enough that I wouldn’t have to go on dialysis. Since January my GFR (filtration measure that shows effective rate of kidney function) has declined to 8%. That means that my kidneys are only working at 8% and I am in stage 5 which is end stage renal failure. ESRF

Living with this has not been easy! There are so many side effects and other bodily systems and organ functions that this disease affects. I try to stay very positive and not let that what I’m going through affect my daily life, but it does. I try to remain optimistic and positive.  Some days I’m successful and some days not so much LOL. 

How am i doing it? I lean on my faith in God. He is carrying me through this journey and continually blesses me day, after day!! I have a lot left to do in life so I know He will get me through this!! I know He is with me and He hasn’t brought me this far to leave me!!! I am grateful for each day.  I also have AMAZING friends and family who are encouraging and supportive to help me through this.  A HUGE thank you to all the friends who send me encouraging messages, bring me food, sit with me in the hard moments, take me to doctors appointments, have helped with the bills and so much more. Words can not begin to express the full amount of gratitude I have for you! 

I would like to get back to my normal life of hiking, working out, volunteering, crafting, DIY, fishing,  hanging out with friends and all of the other exciting things that make my life enjoyable, and all of the exciting things yet to come!! 

For many of you, the above may come as a surprise. Whether you have met me on a hiking trail, you have been a guest in my salon chair, volunteered with me, worship with me at church, or we’re laughing over dinner I  try to always put my best foot forward, smile, encourage others and keep a positive attitude. If I have been there for you in both good and hard times, if I have made you laugh and smile, if I brought you flowers on your birthday, a hug when you were down,  or anything that is helped and encouraged you I am asking please for some of that love in return. 

So this is where you come in, I need your help PLEASE!! I am having surgery for dialysis and post surgery I will need to take six weeks off of work. It will also require multiple doctors appointments. Post my kidney transplant surgery, I will be in the hospital about a week, then I am not allowed to lift or do anything strenuous afterwards. Afterwards, I will need to take  2 to 4 months off of work to recover. In that time I am required to have 24/hr assistance and supervision the first 6 weeks, daily doctors appointments to check my blood work and check the function of the kidney, make sure I’m not rejecting it, build my strength and health back. 

Please help donate and financially take this burden off of me. I don’t see a way I can do it on my own, so I am asking for help please. I also need your prayers and I need you to share this go fund me as much as possible!!! Call your friends, share It at your church, and in your business, share it on your social media, call a friend, skip a coffee or meal out and help y’a girl out! Let’s get the word out that I need help please!! God bless you abundantly for your help and support!! 

Thank you for taking your time to read my story!! Thank you for your help and I look forward to sharing this journey with you. Feel free to follow me on Facebook or Instagram FB: Wesley Kelly (Keith), IG: wesleykellyk. When I am getting closer to a dialysis, transplant, post transplant, I will update on my social media how I’m doing. Thank you all again so much for your support!!