HARPER WOODS, Mich. – She's been waiting for a kidney for nearly 12 years, but her attitude is inspiring.
"I believe that God is going to bless me when it's my time," Teresa Harris said.
While she waits, Harris is working to help shorten the wait time for all patients.
Of the 3,605 people in Michigan currently on the wait list for an organ transplant, more than 80 percent are waiting for a kidney.
Harris is one of those people, and her story highlights the challenge of continuing to live while waiting for the gift of life.
What were you doing back in 2005? That's when Harris started going to dialysis and waiting for a kidney.
In the nearly 12 years since, she hasn't given up hope. Instead, she decided to help.
"I come Monday, Wednesday, Friday," Harris said. "I'm on the machine for four hours."
Three days a week, Harris is at the DaVita Dialysis Center in Harper Woods. It's a ritual she's learned to make the best of.
"Four hours of sleep. I'm here at 5:30 in the morning," Harris said. "Once I get in the chair and I'm hooked on the machine, most of the time, I just go right to sleep."
Harris was diagnosed with lupus at age 16. It attacked her kidneys.
"It was very devastating," Harris said. "Especially with me being a young teenager. You know, having to go through that."
After a year of waiting, Harris received a kidney transplant from a deceased donor. The new kidney lasted three years, but when it failed, Harris had to start dialysis again. She's been doing it ever since.
"There's two needles in my arm," Harris said. "One pulls the blood out, and it goes to the machine. And the other needles bring the blood back in."
Three times a week, the machine removes wastes and extra fluid from Harris' body.
"One of my cousins have a joke that I'm getting my oil changed, because I come in here, they clean my blood, get rid of some of the fluid, and then I'm good," Harris said.
She earned her degree in culinary arts and is active in her church.
"I swim, I run, I exercise," Harris said. "I do as much as my body will allow."
But there are challenges. Traveling is difficult. Anywhere Harris goes, she needs to find another center to do dialysis.
The amount of fluid she can drink is limited, and she has to watch how much calcium and potassium are in the foods she eats.
Because Harris had a previous transplant, she has antibodies in her blood that make it more difficult to find a match.
"Getting a kidney transplant now has to be completely perfect," she said.
She won't find it in her family.
"I have eight siblings and those that are old enough to give me a kidney, none of them match," Harris said. "So they're saying it's going to be like a complete stranger that I'll match with."
But even after 12 years of waiting, Harris said she's optimistic she'll find a match.
"I believe that God is going to bless me when it's my time," Harris said. "I just know that that perfect match is going to be someone with a huge heart that is looking to help somebody else. It could be someone who is alive that sees this, or hears about the gift of life, or understands what it means to give."
Harris is already giving back. She is actively trying to help increase the number of people on the organ donor registry. That includes an effort to add more minorities and to dispel the myths that prevent some from joining.
"A lot of them are under the impression that if they were to register to be a donor, that they're going to get less care because now they're on the list," Harris said.
Harris assures them that's not the case.
"People need to be informed so that they can help somebody else," she said.
She hopes sharing her story will encourage others to consider organ donation.
"There are people who are waiting for life, who don't have as much strength as I have, and that just kind of motivated me to do more with the gift of life, because now I can be an advocate for somebody else," Harris said.
While organ donors and recipients don't have to be the same race, there's often a better chance of finding the best match in someone who shares the same racial makeup.
Right now, 35 percent of the people in Michigan waiting for a kidney are African-Americans.
If you want to join the organ donor registry, click here.
You can also join in person Wednesday at 11 a.m.. There will be a big rally in Detroit at Campus Martius called "Donate Life in the D." It's a celebration of donors, donor families and patients still waiting for the gift of life.