Bijou Phillips is asking for help from her hospital bed. The 45-year-old actress posted a plea on social media, saying she is searching for a living kidney donor as she is undergoing dialysis. “I need help finding a kidney. I'm asking as a friend, a sister, an aunt, and most importantly, a single mother to an incredible and brave daughter" - a reference to her 11-year-old daughter.

"I was born with underdeveloped kidneys and spent the first three months of life in the NICU on dialysis," she wrote in her Instagram post.

In 2017, Phillips had received a kidney from a friend – a transplant which helped her live a healthy life and conceive her daughter Fianna. However, she caught the BK virus, which led to both cellular and antibody rejection.

According to the National Kidney Foundation, BK virus – also known as Human polyomavirus- is a latent virus present in most people that can be reactivated by anti-rejection medication given to organ recipients. Symptoms include seizures, muscle pain, fevers, and trouble breathing.

Kidney or renal failure means one or both of your kidneys no longer function well on their own. Kidney failure is sometimes temporary and develops quickly. Other times, it is a long-term condition that slowly gets worse over time, causing chronic kidney failure.

According to theCleveland Clinic, kidney failure can worsen to the most severe stage, end-stage kidney disease, which is deadly without treatment. If you have end-stage kidney disease, you may survive a few days or weeks without treatment. With the proper treatment, you can have a good quality of life while you manage kidney failure.

Kidney failure affects over 750,000 people in the United States every year, and more than 2 million people worldwide.

High blood pressure and uncontrolled diabetes can lead to kidney failure

Many people experience few or no symptoms in the early stages of kidney disease. However, chronic kidney disease may still cause damage even though you feel fine. A few early signs many people have include:

Doctors say diabetes and high blood pressure are the most common causes of chronic kidney disease and kidney failure. If your blood sugar remains consistently high, it damages your kidneys as well as other organs.

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