Joshua Tannen, Waiting For the Gift of Life

I am ready for a second chance at life...

My name is Joshua Tannen, I am 28 years old, and I live in Phoenix. I am currently on Peritoneal Dialysis, and I have been waiting for the gift of life for 5 years. I had my first bit of kidney failure back in 2000-2001 when I was diagnosed with kidney failure, and in 2001 I started dialysis for the first time. Then in the summer of 2002 my mom gave me one of her kidneys, which lasted close to 10 years. Then in 2011, I started having some health problems and ended up in the hospital having to get blood transfusions. Also in the summer they did a kidney biopsy and determined that all the issues I was having were connected to kidney failure. So later in the fall, the week before Halloween, I was in the hospital for having trouble breathing. When I was in the ER they noticed my oxygen level was low so they put me to sleep, put a tube down my throat, started dialysis, and I woke up in the ICU three days later. I did Hemodialysis for less than three months, and then I decided to do Peritoneal Dialysis instead and been on it ever since.

I was listed back in 2011 and I am still waiting. I am currently listed at Mayo Clinic here in Phoenix. While I am waiting for a kidney I do Peritoneal Dialysis every night while I am sleeping for 11 hours. I am doing the best I can to find a living donor, but have been unable to find one. I am O blood type. I have been through so much during the last five years and I am ready for a second chance at life.