LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Typically, February 14 means one thing: Valentine’s Day.
But Eve Weipe knows it as something different. The day she got a second chance at life.
One of Eve’s favorite things to do now is to spread love, especially to her cats.
But she doesn’t do much of that on Valentine’s Day.
“For me and my family, it’s known as kidney day. Because that’s the day in 2018 that I actually received my kidney transplant,” she said.
This year, she’s celebrating five more years of life after a blood clot damaged both of her organ. It all comes with constant monitoring.
“I’m not 100%, I could lose my kidney at any time, so I still have to go in twice a year, see a nephrologist, I take my medication twice a day, I go in once a month for a blood test,” she said.
Regardless, she said she is doing just fine.
“I’m doing great. I’m back to working full-time. Starting in 2016, I stopped working, I wasn’t able to while on dialysis,” continued Weipe. “But starting in late 2019, I started working full-time again.”
Eve adds that she starts her mornings with a new sense of purpose.
“It makes me appreciate life that much more. Since I’ve had my transplant, I now feel more of a responsibility towards my donor to make sure I lead a healthy full life because I’m living for them,” said Eve.
She’s now focusing her time through volunteer efforts with Donate Life of Michigan and the National Kidney Foundation.
She’s also a mentor for others who have various stages of kidney disease, to be that person who she needed during her dark times.
“I have to pay it forward, and so that’s how I’m doing it, through my volunteering and so forth.”
