I joined the U.S. Army Reserves in 1998 as a Combat Engineer. I also served as a Supply Sergeant and a Petroleum Accountability Sergeant. I left the Army after 10 years as a Staff Sergeant. I was deployed to Iraq from 2003-2004 where I served at Camp Cedar 2. I was in charge of accounting for the fuel dispensed from four sites that my company ran, which included a helicopter refueling site and 3 convoy sites that supported the main supply line from Kuwait into Iraq. In total we pumped over 5 million gallons of fuel over the course of a year supporting units heading north and south through Iraq. After deployment, I served as a platoon sergeant for the rest of my career.
Being in the Army gave me the most satisfaction in my life. The camaraderie with my fellow soldiers has extended till today with continued friendships. The skills I learned have helped me in civilian life and the experiences I had are still with me, good and bad. Because of my good service I was twice awarded the Army Commendation Medal and once awarded the Army Achievement Medal.
Currently I work at CVS as a Supervisor and Pharmacy Technician. CVS allows me to continue my treatment as well as work a full-time job with little difficulty. I enjoy working with the customers, especially those in the Pharmacy. I find great satisfaction assisting those customers just trying to get their medications and negotiating the maze of insurance issues. Also, CVS allowed me to return to college where I graduated from UMass Boston with a master’s in accounting. I am currently looking for an accounting job, but most involve traveling and it is very difficult to travel with my treatments.
I have had kidney disease for the past 15 years, although it took a turn for the worst in 2020, and I have been on dialysis since 2022. Currently, I am on peritoneal dialysis which accounts for 13 hours every day of being hooked up to my machine. So needless to say, it takes up a large amount of my day, fortunately I’m asleep for most of it, but it does cut into my ability to enjoy life. The disease has affected my ability to work as hard as I used to and have been forced to take more breaks to continue working.
The hardest part of having this disease and the consequences of doing dialysis are the number of activities I have had to stop doing. These include hiking, camping and enjoying the outdoors; anything overnight is out of the question because of my machine. I have had to cut back on the amount of time I spend hanging out with my friends due to the time constraints with treatment. I hope for a new kidney just so I return to enjoying life with my friends and hopefully start a family of my own.
For medically cleared donors, giving the gift of life through living kidney donation has been proven to be very safe. DOVE will assist all prospective donors throughout the process and make sure they do not incur any out-of-pocket expenses related to the evaluation or surgery. A healthy person can live a normal life with one kidney and save Christian‘s life with the other!
Your support, whether through spreading the word on social media or considering becoming a donor, can make a profound impact on his life and the life of his family!
Please click on the link below if you would like to learn more OR call (551) 233-1611