Be a Hero, Save a Hero.
Donate a Kidney to Andrea.
About Andrea
Andrea is a beautiful and ambitious young woman who, at age of 30, is in desperate need of a kidney transplant. Unfortunately, she has suffered with ill health throughout her young life.
At the age of three, Andrea was diagnosed with MPGN kidney disease, and began a battle that she still fights today.
In 2009, Andrea received a kidney transplant from her father, but Andrea continues to face struggles and recently her kidney started to fail and over time it is losing its function. Despite her ongoing illness, which often kept her out of school, Andrea remained a top-performing student at her high school and was ultimately accepted into a prestigious college in the northeast, where she continued to excel as an RA, Ted Talker, Private Tutor in math and local EMT First Responder in Easton.
She is currently finishing a Master’s degree in Acupuncture after receiving her BS in Biology at Lafayette College. Andrea is still hoping to enter medical school upon graduating from Acupuncture School to ultimately have a practice of integrated Eastern and Western medicine. She wants to be a doctor so she can improve or help save the lives of other people who suffer from chronic and/or life-threatening diseases, as she is.
He or she who saves one life,
it is as if they have saved the entire world.
- Mishna Sanhedrin 4:5
Andrea's Biography
I am a 30-year-old first-generation American. My family is close-knit, especially since my grandparents are Holocaust survivors, and we cherish each other deeply.
At age three, I was diagnosed with kidney disease, leading to an extended stay in intensive care where I nearly lost my life. Thanks to my determination and willpower, I pulled through, relearning to walk and live like other children. When I was 14, my father gave me the gift of life by donating his kidney, allowing me to regain energy and embrace life more fully.
My journey has been filled with both challenges and opportunities. I discovered my passion for medicine through shadowing doctors and witnessing transplants firsthand. These experiences solidified my desire to become a doctor and help others. Today, I am a certified EMT, have helped save several lives in the last 11 years serving as an EMT in 3 towns (Gillette NJ, Easton PA, River Edge NJ). I was recently promoted to second Lieutenant at my squad. I also have a small tutoring business, that I started in high school for over 10 years, tutoring regular and under privileged students of all ages in Math, Biology, Chemistry and Spanish. I love dancing and spend my free time learning and performing at times (even on Broadway) together with my dancing Club.
Despite frequent hospitalizations due to my immunosuppressant treatments, I never let obstacles hold me back. My ambition and drive push me forward, allowing me to overcome any challenge life throws my way.
The measure of life is not its duration, but its donation.
- Peter Marshall
Andrea's Plea
Everyone faces personal challenges that help us grow, but some hurdles can’t be overcome alone. Right now, I need the help of a stranger—someone like you.
At three, I was hospitalized with renal failure. Thanks to a dedicated doctor, I survived and found my passion for medicine. Later, I was diagnosed with an immune deficiency, but kidney disease persisted, and in 2009, my father donated his kidney to save my life.
Now, my body is rejecting that kidney. My mom offered to donate, but she was diagnosed with a tumor on her left kidney and is no longer able. Many family members and some of my friends have tried, but so far , none were a match. So now, I’m asking for help from someone who may be—a stranger with A or O type blood.
If you really want to help me and are NOT a match, or have Blood type A or O, you can still save my life by being "my donor" and enter in the National Kidney Register, as my donor, and do a swap. They will find me a donor that is a match and use your donation to another recipient that is a match for you. This can only happen if you declare yourself as my donor.
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Please consider being tested and giving me the chance to clear this hurdle.
Andrea
Three Key Facts Every Kidney Donor Should Know
Cost
Andrea's family and insurance will cover all medical costs, travel, and lodging for her donor.
Care
You will have a dedicated medical team, separate from Andrea, to insure your well being.
Comfort
Laparoscopic Nephrectomy is among the safest surgical procedures, with the average patient going home after two days.
Understanding Membrano-Proliferative-Glomerulo-Nephritis (MPGN)
MPGN is an uncommon chronic kidney disease which occurs primarily in children and young adults and ultimately leads to kidney failure.
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In simplified terms, the filters in the kidney, the glomeruli, suffer injuries from unnatural proliferation of certain types of cells, thickening of the tiny blood vessels, and deposits of immune cells; and ultimately die.
MPGN can be of unknown causes or as the result of another disease. MPGN is subdivided into types I, II and III, based on presentation under microscope and characterized by deposits in different parts of the kidney filters (glomeruli).
Andrea was diagnosed with MPGN type I at the age of three when she had significant protein spill in her urine and her blood pressure reached an incredibly high 200/100. By age of 14, this disease destroyed both of her kidneys.
If you are interested in more information on MPGN, you can find details on the condition and its effects at National Kidney Foundation. More technical information can be viewed at The University of North Carolina Kidney Center.
