Award-Winning Director Turns Kidney Failure Battle into a Mission for Awareness

Melissa began feeling unwell in November 2020. Since it was the middle of the pandemic, she decided to wait out the symptoms rather than going to the doctor.

“I thought I had bad acid reflux,” Melissa said. “But it wouldn’t go away. In March of 2021, I finally went to the doctor to figure it out.”

Melissa’s doctor ordered a routine blood draw to help diagnose the problem. 

“My kidney numbers were so bad that my doctor thought there was a lab error,” she said. “I went back for a redraw.”

The next day, Melissa’s doctor called with the news–it wasn’t an error. Melissa was in kidney failure. 

“She told me to pack an overnight bag and go right to the emergency room,” she said. “My kidneys were failing, and I was extremely anemic.” 

Melissa was shocked. She didn’t have any symptoms that pointed towards such a serious condition. She isn’t alone in this. Kidney disease rarely shows symptoms until the kidneys are severely damaged. 

Are you at risk of developing kidney disease? Take our one-minute quiz to find out. 

Melissa’s kidney disease was caused by an autoimmune condition called ANCA vasculitis. It’s a rare condition that occurs when the immune system, which usually protects the body, mistakenly attacks blood vessels.

“I spent 10 days in the hospital,” Melissa said. “They discovered I had ANCA vasculitis, which was damaging my kidneys’ blood vessels. They started me on different treatments to control the disease.”

Melissa received strong medicines, including a strong autoimmune infusion every six months for two years. 

“These treatments helped control my autoimmune disorder. Since then, my kidneys have been stable,” Melissa said. “Unfortunately, the damage was pretty significant.” 

Despite these challenges, Melissa has remained strong. 

“I have really great support,” she said. “I have family, friends, and an incredible medical team. I know I’m in good hands.” 

Friends even built Melissa a website to help her search for a living kidney donor. 

“A few people have done the living donor evaluation,” she said. “But by design, my friends have kept me out of that. It’s important to me to maintain privacy for the people who are considering it.”

Thinking about donating a kidney to someone who needs a transplant? We can connect you with a trained living donor who can share their experience with you. 

Join NKF Peers to get started. 

While Melissa is in kidney failure, she doesn’t need dialysis yet. She’s doing everything in her power to stay off dialysis while waiting for a kidney transplant. 

“The first thing I did was go to the NKF website,” she said. “It’s been an incredible resource–especially for kidney nutrition education and resources.”

Melissa also works closely with a registered dietitian to better understand which foods support kidney health and which ones to avoid. 

“I eat very healthfully and exercise regularly,” Melissa shared. “I’m trying to maintain my current kidney function for as long as possible.”

Being in good physical health can lead to better recovery and long-term success after a kidney transplant.

Watch videos by real patients to learn more about kidney disease treatments. 

As Melissa learned more, she realized people didn’t know much about kidney disease, kidney transplantation, or living donation. 

“It was staggering to me,” she explained. “So many people are sitting on the waitlist. Their wait could be so much shorter if they knew how to look for a donor and advocate for themselves.”

Melissa decided to do something about that. 

“When I’m not a kidney patient, I’m a director,” she said. “I primarily focus on comedic work, and wanted to use my talents to amplify the message that living kidney donation is safe and lifesaving.”

With Tessa Films and her colleagues rallying behind her, Melissa created a PSA campaign with writer Shawn Dempewolff promoting living organ donation. She also partnered with the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) to help get the word out. 

“I cast real donors for the roles. I wanted to highlight these incredible people,” Melissa said. “One person donated to a cousin, another to their father. We also had an altruistic donor, which means that they donated their kidney to a stranger. Hearing everyone’s stories was amazing.” 

Learn more about making the decision to donate a kidney. 

“Everyone on the crew was so committed to this cause. It was really a labor of love for all of us,” Melissa said. “If it gets even one person to think about living donation, then we’ve done our job.”

A special thanks to everyone involved for helping make this project possible.