Hi friends !
 
This year I am pushing past my own limits and putting more meaning behind the miles… running the 2025 NYC Marathon for Team Kidney !!!! 🧡💛
 
My running started as a question of “well, let me see if I can finish a half marathon” to now challenging myself “to do the damn thing and make them proud.” Being able to run for Team Kidney is an incredible opportunity, The National Kidney Foundation has been a part of our family for as long as I can remember.
 
This marathon is more than just a challenge, I am running for my mom and dad; without them I would not be who I am today. Unexpectedly losing my mom in March 2023 and my dad in March 2025 has been the fuel to keep moving forward – regardless of pace, I run for them.
 
Running has become a way to briefly escape my reality, to be able to ‘check out’ and surround myself with an inspiring group of runners I stumbled upon in a local run group and now I cannot imagine any distance without them – shout out to my Fleet Feet Rochester !!!
 
My guardian angels are with me every step of the way, showing me that I am capable of doing the hard things in life.

By donating, you'll be helping the National Kidney Foundation (NKF):

❤︎ Thank you, thank you !! XOXOXO 
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If you’re new here and have not heard my story, kidney disease is unfortunately dominantly inherited in my family. My grandpa had Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD), as well as his siblings, his children, and his grandchildren. The list seems to be never ending, and in 2018 I joined that list officially being diagnosed with PKD.

Watching family members experience transplants (some even two !!) and struggle through dialysis, I am very familiar with the impact of the disease. It is a blessing that each family member who has received a transplant has known their donor – a significant other, family member, or friend.

My mom, Kimberly, had PKD and Multiple Sclerosis (MS), making her uncomfortable with the idea of a transplant and recovery time leaving dialysis to become part of her routine – three days a week, for almost 6 years. We named her dialysis AV fistula Thor to keep things exciting and positive, like we name most things in our life and home. Thor became stubborn within two years which ultimately gave mom only one option, to get a hemodialysis catheter in her chest. If you know Kim, you know she made her dialysis unit her second family – always bringing snacks, getting all the gossip, and asking for princess treatment when arriving.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about the National Kidney Foundation and contributing to help support!