Local father of five needs new kidney

Porterville Recorder On Line | Kelli Ballard
Part of the Mejinez family, pictured left to right; Miguel Jr, 6; Miguel, 41; Asheal, 16; Aslya, 15; Leah, 18; and Dallas, 8 in front, at Granite Hills High School in September.
Waiting list for needed organ long

Battling hard times is not a new experience for local resident, Miguel Mejinez, 41. Mejinez was diagnosed with Diabetes 1 in 1992 when he was 20 years old, the same illness that took his mother’s life in 1998 and is also affecting a younger brother and sister.

In 2011 he was diagnosed with complete and total kidney failure, and became a single parent of five children; ages ranging from 4-18 years old.

For a while, Mejinez self-administered peritoneal dialysis, which he says was “very time consuming” taking about eight hours a night administering treatment through a tube in the stomach, “a very delicate area.”

Now, however, peritoneal dialysis is not an option for Mejinez and he needs Hemodialysis three times a week; four hours at a time.

Today, Mejinez will be undergoing yet another surgery to remove the tubing, which is a temporary catheter, from his chest to the side of his arm.
______________________________________________________ 
"You have the power to SAVE lives." 
To register as a donor TODAY
In California: 
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 
Outside California: 
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

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