Testimonials
Jen---"A Story About Strength"
When she was 17 she was diagnosed with FSGS (focal segmental glomerli sclerosis), a rare kidney disease. When she was 20, she was told she had ESRD (end stage renal disease) and needed a transplant. Her mother gave her one, but due to unknown complications, it was removed a week later and Jen went on dialysis. A year later, her father gave her a kidney, which allowed Jen to live 5 healthy and happy years. In 2004, the disease attacked the kidney again and Jen was put back on dialysis. Jen has been doing peritoneal dialysis at home for the last 4 years.
Jen was scheduled for a kidney transplant on June 12th. The surgery went well and Jen is recovering and getting stronger each day. Jen has a website and wants everyone who cares for her and her family to have an easy way to stay updated on her progress.
About
The city of Cambridge is part of the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts. The city is best known for being the home of two world-class universities, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), located within just two miles of each other. Cambridge is bordered by the city of Boston, located on the other side of the Charles River just 3 miles to the southeast. Other surrounding communities include Somerville (to the north), Watertown (to the west), and Arlington (to the northwest).
Settled in 1630 by a band of Puritans from England, Cambridge was originally called "Newtowne". The founding of Harvard College in 1636 prompted the choice of a new name, one more appropriate for a college town in New England. The name "Cambridge" was chosen due to the familiarity of many of the settlers with Cambridge University in England. The year 1636 also marked the incorporation of the town, which became a city in 1846 when the original town (Old Cambridge) merged with two villages (Cambridgeport and East Cambridge) which had formed to the east along the roads leading to bridges linking the area to Boston. The city's major industrial focus in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries centered on factories (largely furniture and glass) but since that time the emphasis has shifted to technology-based enterprises, including electronics, software, and biotechnology research. Cambridge today is very much a college-influenced community combining a strong mix of cultural and social diversity, intellectual vitality and technological innovation.