Dior Chambers is no stranger to kidney disease. It has touched every corner of her life—from losing her father, Elijah Coley, to renal failure in 2001, to watching her husband, Dominique survive 14 years of dialysis before receiving a life-saving kidney transplant.
Now, Dior finds herself in that same fight.
In September of last year, Dior and Dominique experienced the unimaginable. Due to complications of chronic kidney disease and pre-eclampsia, Dior had to deliver her son at just five months. He passed away two days later.
“It was extremely traumatic and really the worst time in our lives to say the least,” she shared.
After delivery, doctors hoped her kidneys would recover. Instead, her condition worsened, leading her to be placed on the waiting list at Corewell Royal Oak.
At 37 years old, Dior has had to undergo many changes due to her diagnosis. A very active person, she’s had to slow down, change her diet and manage new medications. She’s also had to stop working as a caregiver for her mother, to focus on her own health.
“One of the first things that I thought was about the complete lifestyle change I would have to go through,” she said. “I knew it was going to affect my role as a caregiver for my mother. That’s what I did as work. I worry about the financial stress. I worry about the social changes as far as not being able to move freely without worrying about my own day-to-day health concerns.”
To help address some of her concerns, Dior spoke with her doctor to find the best solution for dialysis. She chose to go with peritoneal dialysis, a home-based treatment to give her more freedom to do the things she loves.
“I love to spend time with my family, friends, cooking, hosting,” she said. “I love to travel and still wanted to be able to do that as much as possible without hinderance. The peritoneal will allow me to do some of that with planning.”
After all she has been through, her outlook remains positive.
“Organ donation has a domino effect,” she emphasizes. “When a person decides to donate, they’re gifting not only a new way of life for that recipient, they’re impacting that person’s entire community. It’s empowering and it’s life changing. Seeing is believing.”
Dior has seen it for herself. Her husband Dominique’s transplant gave them a future to look forward to.
“When he received his organ transplant, it just completely changed our lives tremendously,” she said.
Now, Dior hopes to do the same.
“I’m looking forward to going back to work, exploring a post graduate degree and raising continued awareness of neonatal infant loss and chronic kidney disease,” she said.
In particular, she hopes that by sharing her story she might encourage minority communities to become organ donors and take charge of their health.
“We have so many fears and mistrust,” she said. “I just want to raise awareness. You’re helping not just your community—it spreads throughout the entire world.”
More than 2,600 patients in Michigan, including Dior, are waiting for that lifesaving transplant. The best way to save lives is to join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry by visiting golm.org/signup. To learn how you can help by being a living kidney donor for Dior, visit https://www.beaumont.org/conditions/becoming-a-kidney-donor.
