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I was born in 1979 with congenital nephrotic syndrome. For the first few years, I was a happy, normal child. Then I contracted the chicken pox, and that caused both my kidney's to fail, forcing me onto peritoneal dialysis for 3 years before I had my first transplant at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. That kidney was good to me, but t he disease struck, and at the age of 13 I have to have a second transplant. That one would last me approximately 7 - 8 years, but then again the disease struck. So at age 21 I went back onto peritoneal dialysis. I spent my time between times dialysis with a transplant as sacred and enjoyed life as much as possible. I then had a living donor transplant from my Mom whom passed away in 2014. That kidney was awesome and enabled me to visit the United Kingdom in 2005. Now I am one of a handful of people worldwide waiting for a fourth transplant.

My friends and family who love me should register

I could tell you that donating will help save the health system money, or I could tell you about the freedom having a transplant has. However, at the end of the day, having a transplant means a huge increase in the quality of life for the recipient and a huge increase in quality of health. Dialysis - both hemodialysis which I am on now, and peritoneal dialysis have big risks. Those risks include blood clots that could lodge themselves in the heart or brain and lead to death. Infection could occur. I have been hospitalized for both of these things at the end of 2014. Diabetes is another health issue that could crop up for a patient. Low blood pressure is another side effect of dialysis. I regularly also have itchy skin due to phosphorous that can't always be filtered out by the dialysis ASAP. Please register to be an organ donor.