A Kidney for Cathy – Time to Give Back

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Every once in a while, we are asked to search inside ourselves to see if we might have what it takes to do something supremely selfless. Today, we’re asking you to take a few minutes to learn about Cathy Talmadge and help us in our mission to find her a life-saving live kidney donor.

If 2020 wasn’t bad enough, Cathy received a diagnosis that rocked her family to the core: She was in stage-four renal failure and would require a new kidney as soon as possible. Cathy was put on kidney donation lists across the country, but was told it could take years before a kidney would become available. She was also informed that dialysis could wreak havoc on her body, and that she could become very sick, potentially incapable of having a future transplant. When the family asked when she would need the transplant, her doctor said that they should aim for the end of 2021. Family members who were tested were not cleared, so a group of friends decided to get the word out with a no-holds-barred campaign. The clock is ticking...

A Mystery Illness Revealed

About five years ago, Cathy’s health started a mysterious decline. An avid swimmer, gardener, environmentalist, traveler, reader and cook, Cathy was barely able to get out of bed, much less work in her gardens, walk her golden retriever, Riley, or whip up dinner with husband, Tom. After countless visits to medical specialists, Cathy was diagnosed with a rare form of Sarcoidosis. This debilitating autoimmune disease ravaged her organs to the point where Cathy is now in kidney failure and will require a live donor transplant. As friends who know how much Cathy has given to others, we are now putting her story out into the universe to manifest a life-saving donor.

Share, Share, Share!

By sharing Cathy’s story, you can help her find the kidney donor who will save her life and help her return to the passions, pursuits and causes that are near to her heart.

A kidney donation is not just a boon to the recipient. It can also change the life of the donor. A recent kidney donor shared her thoughts: “I saw someone in need on Facebook. I thought how blessed I am and how wonderful my life is, and I wanted to give someone else the same blessings. I celebrate my one-year donor anniversary in August, and I would do it again in a heartbeat! In fact, I registered on the ‘Be the Match’ site to hopefully be paired for Bone Marrow someday.”

We ask that you follow and share Cathy’s social media pages with your friends—and ask them to share. You can find the logos/links to the ‘A Kidney for Cathy’ Facebook and Instagram pages below. We ask that you not just “like” the posts, but share, share, share!

If you, or someone you know, may be interested in learning more about what is entailed with becoming a kidney donor, please click here for our FAQs and here for our confidential Survey, which will let you know (with no obligation), whether or not you could be good candidate for donating.

Casting as wide a net as possible is essential to finding a donor. Let’s go viral!