HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — As many as nine in 10 adults with chronic kidney disease don’t even know they have it.<\/p>\n
That’s according to the CDC<\/a>, who adds that more than 30 million people in the U.S. are estimated to have chronic kidney disease.<\/p>\n We do have so many people who are suffering from kidney disease and need transplants and just need the support.<\/p>\n Alexis Conell, Kidney Transplant Recipient<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Alexis Conell<\/a> says she was once one of the people who didn’t know something was wrong, mainly because she had no symptoms.<\/p>\n “In 2009, I was what some would call living my best life. I had a successful modeling career. I was working full time, traveling,” Conell said. “I thought I was doing all the right things. I was eating well. I was working out, you know, four to five times a week.”<\/p>\n But then, her doctors flagged something during a routine exam.<\/p>\n “My doctor noticed that I had a little protein in my urine. They checked it a couple of times. They thought maybe it was just sort of a fluke,” she explained, adding that she was referred to a nephrologist.<\/p>\n “So I decided, you know, I had no symptoms, I was feeling great, everything was good. And so I didn’t go,” Conell said.<\/p>\n But a few months later, she went to the emergency room with severe back pain, thinking it was from lifting weights. After a visit to the nephrologist, Conell learned she’d lost quite a bit of her kidney function.<\/p>\n I know what I continue to go through, and if I can share that and help one person, that’s what it’s all about.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n A biopsy revealed she had Fibrillary Glomerulonephritis<\/a>, a rare disease that affects the millions of filtering units that make up the kidney. Those units are called glomeruli.<\/p>\n A round of chemotherapy followed, but that failed, and Conell was placed on dialysis in 2011.<\/p>\n “I did nine hours a night at home, and eventually, I had to add an exchange at my office during the day,” Conell recalled.<\/p>\n In early 2012, her nephrologist recommended she join multiple kidney transplant lists at the hospitals in Illinois, where she lived.<\/p>\n By July 2012, she got a call in the middle of the night that changed her life.<\/p>\n “My phone rang, and I didn’t recognize the number, so I didn’t answer it for the first three times,” Conell began. “Finally I answered, and she introduced herself, and she was like, ‘I’m from the transplant team. We have a kidney for you.’ I was like, ‘Wow, I’m really getting my kidney now.’ Especially after being sick for so long, it’s like the sun shining in the middle of the night.”<\/p>\n Texas Health and Human Services<\/a> says that about 10,000 Texans are awaiting a lifesaving transplant. Nationwide, that number is 100,000.<\/p>\n Further, approximately 85% of patients awaiting a lifesaving transplant need a kidney.<\/p>\n Now Conell’s focus is advocacy, having lobbied for legislation to help patients with kidney disease, transplant recipients, and donors.<\/p>\n She also volunteers with the National Kidney Foundation<\/a>, first in Illinois, and now here in Houston, Texas, using her voice to create awareness before it’s too late.<\/p>\n “I know that they were very helpful to me throughout my process, and so we want to be able to keep that going because we do have so many people who are suffering from kidney disease and need transplants and just need the support,” Conell said. “I feel like the more people that we can reach on the front end, then maybe we won’t have as many people on the back end that are needing dialysis or a transplant.”<\/p>\n Wow, I’m really getting my kidney now. After being sick for so long, it’s like the sun shining in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n Alexis Conell after learning she’d receive a transplant<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Conell explained that once she received a transplant, she started to feel good after a couple of days. But as part of her journey, she also shares some of the challenges transplant recipients face.<\/p>\n “We have to really make sure we are watching our blood pressure and our weight and certain things and our meals have to be cooked a certain way. Our meat has to be cooked a certain way. We’re more susceptible, because of the immunosuppression, to illness,” she said.<\/p>\n Conell describes herself as a patient voice, speaking vocally but also through writing, creating journals where she shares some of her favorite recipes, her story and more.<\/p>\n She said she has also learned along the way don’t be afraid to ask your doctor questions. Know that there are certain tests to check your kidney function and be aware of any risk factors for kidney disease such as diabetes and high blood pressure<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I know what I went through. I know what I continue to go through, and if I can share that and help one person, that’s what it’s all about,” Conell said. “And that’s why I’m still here because I could’ve easily been one of those people who are still waiting.”<\/p>\n The next way Alexis is using her voice will be at the Houston Kidney Walk on Nov. 9 at the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, located at 4501 Woodway Dr.<\/p>\n There’s still time to sign up, which is free to do, but organizers ask that you fundraise<\/a>.<\/p>\n The National Kidney Foundation, which puts on the Houston Kidney Walk, tells ABC13 all the money raised through the walk stays in Texas to support programs, services, and outreach.<\/p>\n Check-in starts at 8 a.m., followed by the opening ceremony at 9:30 a.m. and the walk at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n ABC13 is the media sponsor of this event and will also have an ABC13 team<\/a> who will be walking.<\/p>\n Follow Brittaney Wilmore on Twitter<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2025 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n\n
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