Frankfort woman pleads for new kidney

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) — A Frankfort woman who suffers from a serious kidney disease has been searching for almost four years now for a kidney transplant.

48-year-old Rose Miller has Polycystic Kidney Disease.

“Basically my kidneys do not work at all,” says Miller. “I do kidney dialysis to stay alive three days a week, 3 1/2 hours a day.”

Miller has been on the kidney transplant list at UK Hospital for almost four years now. She says she’s been on kidney dialysis for over two.

“When you go into your dialysis it is like having daggers stuck in your arms,” says Miller. “When you’re on the machine your blood pressure can drop and you literally pass out and you think you’re dying.”

She says her kidneys are anywhere from four to 10 times larger than the average. She adds her kidneys look like sponges with all of the cysts on them.

Miller says this disease affects her husband and their two kids because she’s not able to be the wife or mother she wants to be.

“I feel like i’m a burden to my husband and family because they are having to take care of me. I feel like i’m letting my family down.”

She’s been sharing her story on social media for years and it’s just now starting to really get out there, and that’s because of Elizabeth Traylor.

She’s been advocating for Miller for weeks now and the two had never met until Wednesday.

“I think we’ve had maybe close to 500 shares so thousands of people on Facebook now have seen it [Miller’s story] which I’m thankful for and I didn’t think that would ever happen,” says Traylor.

Traylor says this story is close to her heart because her son has stage 3 kidney disease at three years old.

“My son will need a kidney transplant as well one day,” says Traylor. “So I can’t imagine him being on a transplant list for 4 plus years with no success.”

Miller needs a type O living kidney and her family is not able to donate because they may also carry the Polycystic Kidney Disease gene.

She says she knows someone out there has a spare kidney and a love for life, she just has to find them.

Miller adds her health insurance will cover all testing and the surgery.