In 2014, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In June of that year, I had surgery for the cancer followed by 6 months of chemo. I had a very rare reaction to the chemo and as a result lost most of the function of my kidneys. The oncologists at Mayo say I cannot have a kidney transplant until I have been cancer free for 5 years. That means I am not eligible for a transplant until January of 2020.
Update:
In 2019, I was approved for a kidney transplant at Mayo and at Nebraska Medicine. In December of 2019, it was determined that my pancreatic cancer had returned. When you have a transplant, they have to disable your immune system to prevent rejection. With the return of my cancer, I no longer qualify for a transplant and my name was removed from both transplant lists
