My name is Cheri Rodriguez Jones, and I am a kidney transplant patient with a long history of kidney disease, dialysis, and transplant. I work full time as a Technical Analyst at a small software company that develops client management and reporting products for non-profit, social service, and government agencies. My husband James and I share two children, David and Dorothy.
I was diagnosed at eight years old with an ultra-rare kidney disease called Dense Deposit Disease (DDD). DDD caused my immune system to progressively damage my kidneys. Little was known about the disease in 1988 due to the limited population for research, so the only treatment available was to try to maintain my kidney function for as long as possible. My kidney function progressed to ESRD, and I began regular dialysis at 19 years old. I received my first kidney transplant in 2010. There were many complications of rejection, and I was diagnosed with a recurrence of DDD which damaged my donor kidney; I returned to dialysis after just over two years. This period of time was just enough for me to go to college and kick start my career though, and I am so grateful for that gift.
Thanks to my otherwise good health I was a good candidate for transplant, but doctors would be more selective and form a treatment plan now that more options were available. During this time, I started home hemodialysis but with my career, it was increasingly difficult to manage the commute to work an hour away, and dialysis once I returned home. I used my personal experience to get to work advocating for nocturnal home hemodialysis. After three years, I became the first patient in the area in the newly created nocturnal home hemodialysis program which greatly improved my quality of life and helped keep me healthy while I waited for another transplant.
In October 2020, I received my second transplant after seven and a half years. I receive regular treatments to keep my DDD under control, but I know that dialysis will be in my future again someday. While I am able, I want to do as much as I can to push important causes forward that protect dialysis patients and their families.
In my free time I enjoy knitting, crocheting, reading, and comic conventions. I have volunteered locally, been a patient advocate, and a peer mentor and educator. I like to say that advocacy is one of the things that we consider “the family business” as we have had multiple generations of family members who have advocated for causes in some form or another and I am excited to serve.
