I now have a donor & will be receiving my Kidney Transplant July 18th @ St. Lukes in KC, MIssouri but here is my story for all of you who don’t know me or my story.
Hello my name is Daphiney Saavedra & here is my story of how I almost lost my life to Kidney Failure & how God was there to guide the doctors for 31 days to save my life as my family & friends waited for the outcome.
In Mid December 2023 I woke up to get in the shower for work and noticed I had severely swollen feet and ankles, I paid no mind to it and went to work. I felt fine all day & Blood pressure was high but figured it was because it was busy that day. That next day I started painting our bathroom with my sister Melissa & she told me “Man sis your feet and ankles look like they hurt” I told her they did and I thought it was from working on the bathroom. We finished the bathroom painting & I showered and went to bed. Moving forward to December 20th 2023! I woke up feeling dizzy & nauseous so I stayed in bed all day drinking water & not eating at all due to the nausea, the next day I was not only dizzy, nauseous but started to vomit & have diarrhea, Stayed in bed again that day. Next day I was dizzy, nauseous , vomiting, diarrhea & was having chest congestion & shortness of breath. My husband took my temperature & no fever, he gave me water and I slept all day & night. Next morning was Christmas eve & my husband wanted to take me to the hospital & I told him it was probably covid & I just wanted to sleep & not ruin Christmas for our 2 kids & him. Later in the day my husband woke me up to try to get me to eat and drink some water. I couldn’t even get sips of water down let alone food at this point. Christmas day I had all of the previous days’ symptoms along with a weird “Dirty Fish Tank ammonia’” taste in my mouth and could see a cloud of vapor with every breath I exhaled. I could barely lift my head up due to being so sick but I was bound and determined to go downstairs and celebrate the birth of Christ with my family. I came to the couch (I kinda remember my husband holding me up going downstairs) watched my 2 kids open 2 or 3 presents each & laugh, I believe I opened a gift and then my husband had to carry be back up to bed where I took some allergy medication with water & threw up immediately but I fell asleep. The next morning my son came into my room & woke me up and told me he was going to be heading back to Independence,MO a day earlier so he could rest before work the next day.My husband had went to work at 7am on Tuesday December 26th 2023 and I remember barely having the strength to hug Tanner (Our Son) but God gave me the strength to squeeze him tight & to tell him to drive save & to text or call when he got home. I remember I started to hallucinate seeing farm animals that were definitely were not in our house & started to think was I going to lay in my bed and die from what I thought was Covid & As hard as I tried I couldn’t get up at all not even to lift my hand to grab my phone to call for help as laid there knowing I was slowly dying. I told Alexa to call my friend Kendra so I could go to the dr because the whole time I thought it was covid, She got me an appt but then called back and said my PCP wanted me to go to ER. I called my husband from Alexa and I distinctly remember telling him “ Babe Help me Im I think I’m dying please come take me to the hospital.” He came home & the first few days were a blur. I remember being in the Wesley ER in Derby & Had to be transported to Wesley main where they told my husband “Mr. Saavedra if you don’t sign this paper for emergency dialysis your wife is going to die!” Things started moving real fast,surgeons came into my ICCU room and put CVC in my femur area to start my dialysis, 2 days later that one wouldn’t stop bleeding so another surgical team came in and put in a chest CVC & I ran dialysis every single day for 4-6 hours at a time.
I stayed in ICCU for 7 days barely conscious as friends and family would step in for a few minutes at a time with machines beeping & alarms blaring. After moving out of ICCU they placed me in a regular room and then the real tests began, After 31 days in the hospital and alot of doctors deciding my health plan & making sure I was discharged with home health due to the deterioration of my muscles I couldn’t stand, walk or feed myself, My husband did it all for me when he wasn’t at work and then my mom, our daughter Megan, family, friends & nurses took care of me. I began dialyzing at the center 5 days a week for 4 months then Jose and I were trained to do Home Hemodialysis & we went to 7 days a week ( you need more dialysis when you do it at home due to the machines being smaller than the centers machines) June we dropped to 6 days & it was taking its toll not only on me but my husband & kids as well. Then they dropped dialysis down to 4 days a week. I did 10 months of grueling testing and kidney biopsies & ultrasounds to finally be listed September 4th 2024 but couldn’t be active on the list until October 4th 2024 due to getting the live virus vaccine. Now that I had gotten on the list & we had 4 people that were possible matches & 2 had almost completed the testing it was now the time to start fundraising to help my family & I have the funds for things we will need to take care of our home & life if need be.
We have apparel on our website that will be attached here as well & we will be having some fundraisers through our church family.
This has been a very trying 18 months for not only myself but for my two kids Tanner & Megan, my husband, family and friends but it also been rough for the hundreds of friends,family, strangers and donors that had to go through testing and hurdles that were denied just to give me a second chance at a normal longer life. I remember so many people praying for me daily including our old pastor Kendal Franklin who’s now our district superintendent & still prays for myself, my family & for my transplant to happen. As we progressed to narrowing it down too 2 donors Pastor Billy stepped in & prayed for me & gave me & my family the comfort & support we sought out and the people who never lost their faith when mine was wavering daily while I went through numerous trials & tribulations I will always hold you all dear to my heart. God has a plan for me and my family & that plan is playing out right now.
With all that being said I have a friend/donor Tracy Harris with a surgery date of July 18th at St. Lukes in KC,Missouri with a 9:30 check in & a noon surgery start.
So now we are starting a fundraiser to help Myself & my little family with travel expenses such as gas, food, lodging if its needed while they/we make trips to and from our home to KC,MO, and back while I’m in the hospital and when I get home we will have to travel for a while, it will also cover lost wages for Jose as he only has 2 weeks paid time off everything else will be unpaid, I will also need home health services while I spend 4-6 weeks at my sons home while i recover that my insurance won’t cover in Missouri so funds will be needed for that as well. Along with medication co pays or paying for medications that are or won’t be covered at all by insurance & any unforeseen expenses along the way. I started this fundraiser @ the amount due to fundraiser’s & my Transplant coordinator Recommendation for this type of medical procedure I’ll be having. It could cost more it could cost less but anything helps us and our long journey ahead after I get my new kidney.
Thank you all for being here for me, my husband & kids, I Can’t describe the love and courage I’ve embraced over the 18 months. Thank you all for supporting me whether it be physically, mentally, emotionally and financially. Myself and my family will never forget the love and selflessness of all of you.
Daphiney Saavedra
