Welcome to our Caring Bridge site. We are using it to get the word out and to keep our family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate all of your support, prayers and kind words. Thank you all so much for visiting our site and please keep sharing.
My name is Ellie, I'm 26 years old and I live in Minnesota. I will be the main author of this caring bridge site.
My mom, Marianne Steichen (born on September 13th, 1967), was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease in 2005. When my sister Tori (16) was born my mom had a biopsy done which showed she had focal and segmental glomerular lesions. She was told at the time that she would someday need a kidney transplant. That time has now came. Her kidneys are functioning at 16% and she has officially been put on transplant list at Mayo Clinic.
Aside of having kidney disease, my mom has overcame many other medical and personal struggles. She was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in 2009. Watching her go through chemo and radiation was truly heartbreaking for all of us, but we are so thankful to say that she has been in remission for 9 years.
On June 26th, 2014 my stepdad Gary Steichen (44) was tragically taken from us too soon. Although, it has almost been 4 years we all still think about it daily. It truly breaks my heart watching my mom go through kidney disease without her number one caregiver/supporter.
But, for those of you who know my mom know she is one hell of a fighter. She looks at her needing this transplant as "another bump in the road". I admire my mom for her strength, the way she loves and puts her family first, and her overall outlook on life.
There are 2 ways to donate a kidney. You can have the same blood type as my mom and it could go right to her. OR you can donate your kidney to someone else who has a donor that matches my moms blood type. So please, please get tested. If anyone has any questions please don't hesitate to ask any of us. I am going to attach a link straight from the Mayo Clinic website that can help with any questions you may have as well.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/kidney-transplant/home/orc-20203197The first step is to fill out the questionnaire on the Mayo Clinic website,
http://www.livingdonormc.org. You will then be contacted by a transplant nurse. They will mail out a kit that you can take to any lab to have your blood type and other things checked. My mom's insurance will cover all of this. If you don't have the same blood type as my mom you could still be a paired donor.
As I keep telling my mom, we WILL find you a donor. So thank you to everyone for taking the time to read my moms story and please share it to help us find a donor. We will forever be grateful.
