FAIRBURY, Neb. -- In 2016, Karie Buchli went to get her bloodwork done. When she left, she felt perfectly fine. 

A day later, she got a call from her doctor about her kidney. She had a disease called Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis and her kidney was functioning at 26%, but she never felt any different. 

“They asked me if I had any symptoms,” Buchli said. "Any swelling, shortness of breath, diabetes, I had nothing."

After being put on medication, her kidney hit 20% in 2020 which put her on the donation list. 

“No matter what happened, my kidneys were going to fail,” Buchli said. "That’s what the doctors told me. It was just a matter of time. So, I would either need dialysis or transplant."

In August 2020, she found a compatible kidney for transplant. By then, her kidney was functioning at 10%.

“As I was getting ready in the morning, I would look at my face and it was gray,” Buchli said. "And I knew that I was getting sicker. When my husband walked in the next morning, he said, ‘Your face has so much color in it now. I didn’t realize how sick you had been.’”

Since then, Buchli is working full time and is back to her normal life. 

“I’m doing very very well,” Buchli said. "No symptoms. Back to my daily life. Working out. Making sure I’m eating correctly, like everyone should."

More than 106,000 people are on the transplant list; 92,000 of which are waiting for a kidney. 

April is National Donate Life month and Buchli is grateful that somebody became an organ donor to save hers.

“I want people to know that when you go get your driver’s license, mark that little heart because you don’t need those organs when you leave,” Buchli said. "There are so many people on this earth that do need organs.”

Since her transplant, she has seen children graduate and her daughter get married. She also just did a community walk in Omaha, where she met other transplant recipients. 

“With that donation, I don’t know if I would have got to experience watching my kids graduate, watching my daughter walk down the aisle with her dad,” Buchli said. "It’s just changed my life a lot."

Live On Nebraska, a non-profit based out of Omaha, has lots of information for those interested in donation.