LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) - A Bardstown woman waiting for a kidney transplant shared her story with Congress and helped change the national organ transplant policy.

"When you get to a point to where you realize your life is dependent upon a medical system, you want to figure out what you can do to fix what's within your power," LaQuayia Goldring said.

Goldring's health journey started at just 3 years old when doctors found a golf ball sized tumor on her left kidney. She was diagnosed with a rare kidney cancer.

"During that time I lived at the hospital," Goldring said.

In about a year she beat the cancer, but more than a decade later she was warned there were signs of kidney failure.

"I knew that there were early signs, but transplant dialysis was like a year away. So it was nothing I needed to think about. But then two months later, my life completely changed a week after my 17th birthday," she said.

It was time for a kidney transplant. Miraculously, it only took 10 days to get a match and get the procedure. Unfortunately though, transplants don't always last forever.

"It was able to last from the age of 17 to 25," she said. "I'm now 34, I've been waiting nine years for a kidney transplant. And our system is broken."

For nine years she's been required to do dialysis treatments five days a week to stay alive.

"If you think about your own life, so much can change in five years, so much can change in 10 years. And that's what I've had to sit back and watch happen is, a lot of my life has had to pass me by," Goldring said.

Part of the waiting process is getting your name registered with UNOS, United Network for Organ sharing. It's the sole organization that managed the country's organ donation policies for the past 40 years.

Just a few months ago, Goldring found out her name had been removed from the list due to a clerical error.

A mistake that fueled part of her testimony in front of U.S. Senators in July.

"Patients like me completely go forgotten in a system that is failing us every day," she told senators.

She was invited to share her struggle with UNOS and finding a match as senators considered legislation that would break up the UNOS monopoly and allow more contracts to be considered for handling organ transplants.

"I'm just asking that you all stand behind this legislation as we move forth and that all of Congress stands together to pass this legislation so more lives can be saved and less can be put in coffins," she told senators in July.

Congress listened and the legislation passed. At the end of September, President Joe Biden signed it into law.

"I was so overjoyed with, with just joy and tears in relief, it was just a sigh of relief," she said.

UNOS released a statement saying it welcomes the competition.

"UNOS welcomes a competitive bidding process for the next series of Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) contracts. We continue to work with HRSA [Health Resources and Services Administration] and Congress to strengthen the system for both patients and the transplant community, and applaud HRSA for quickly working to implement important changes, including ensuring that the OPTN is governed by an independent board. Given the system’s complexity, the lives that depend on it, and our unique level of experience, we believe UNOS should continue to play a critical role in the nation’s organ donation and transplant system. We stand ready to engage in this competitive bidding process, advocate for what’s best for patients, and help save more lives."

This change will impact the hundreds of thousands of Americans waiting for a transplant.

"It's one thing to hear leaders, like our President, talk about organ donation and how their administration is going to do something to change it, but to actually have a law after 40 years signed doesn't get any better than that," she said.

Goldring's fight isn't over. She is still waiting and praying for a life saving donation. 

"I'm just staying hopeful that that one match will come and, you know, this will be a thing of the past," she said.

To see if you're eligible to donate and follow her journey, she has a social media campaign here.

According to Donate Life, more than 105,000 Americans are waiting life-saving organ transplants. 

Copyright 2022 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.