Expiration Date Unknown: From diagnosis to transplant: Navigating life with PKD

What if you were told your life had an expiration date… at sixteen? At just sixteen years old, Rachelle Bryant was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD)—a genetic condition that would eventually lead to kidney failure. In a single moment, her future shifted from possibility to uncertainty, marked by an invisible countdown she could never escape. But this story is about more than a diagnosis. In Expiration Date Unknown, Rachelle invites you into the raw, unfiltered reality of her life—from a childhood marked by trauma and survival, to navigating love, motherhood, identity, and ultimately, a life-saving kidney transplant. Along the way, she wrestles with fear, worthiness, and the deeply ingrained belief that her time was limited. And then… she outlived the timeline she was given. Through deeply personal storytelling, Rachelle explores what it means to live when you've been preparing to die—how trauma shapes our choices, how illness reframes our priorities, and how healing is not linear, but possible. This is not just a story about PKD or transplant. It's a story about: reclaiming your voice after years of silence learning to feel safe in your own life rewriting the narratives that once defined you and discovering that an "expiration date" was never yours to carry Whether you are navigating chronic illness, supporting someone who is, or simply searching for deeper meaning in your own life, this memoir offers a powerful reminder: Life is not measured by certainty—but by the courage to keep living anyway. Honest, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful, Expiration Date Unknown is a testament to resilience, the power of storytelling, and the truth that none of us truly know how much time we have—only how we choose to live it.