Danielle’s Story

Hi, I’m Danielle Roessle—a military spouse and mom to a 18-month-old son. On February 18, 2025, I received a life-saving kidney transplant. But soon after, it failed. This is my journey.


I was a healthy, active woman until I gave birth to my son in February 2024. Complications during delivery changed everything—I lost my kidneys and suddenly found myself navigating motherhood while fighting for my life.

Since then, I’ve documented my journey—from surviving dialysis as a new mom to launching a kidney campaign in search of a living donor, to receiving a transplant, and having it fail.

Through my vlogging and writing, I explore not just my own experience but the deeper realities of living with chronic illness, navigating the medical system, and, most importantly, the life-saving impact of organ donation. My hope is to spark deeper reflection, educate, and inspire meaningful conversations.

Whether you’re here as a friend, a fellow patient, or simply curious about what this life is like with kidney disease, I hope you’ll follow along. This story is still unfolding.

Interested in becoming a living kidney donor? Learn more through DOVE, a nonprofit supporting veterans in need.

Blog

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Self-Absorption vs. Self-Attunement

Self-attunement is about listening inward, without losing the ability to stay present with others. Self-absorption, on the other hand, is a loop of over-focusing on oneself—which can lead to behaviors like distraction, defensiveness, interpreting, assuming, and judging. Both are common human experiences. However, one brings connection. The other builds walls.
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Freedom From Needing Life to Be Big

Hope and realism aren't opposites. I'm learning to carry them side by side. I'm also learning that expansion and contraction will be part of my life from now on (and it always was, but I didn’t pay as much attention to it).
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Write to Fight

“This is so hard. Please help me get through this. Please get me to the other side. But please… can I just get a break?” The message I got, surprisingly clear, was: ‘Fight through your writing.’ And suddenly, I felt better.

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