Robbie's Medical Fund

When I was only five years old I had a very rare kidney disease. Click more for the full story. You can make a difference in my life.

The Kidney Disease was called Glomerulonephrosis. Click the green text links to read a articles about Glomerulonephrosis on Wikipedia. Major symptoms for me included extreme headaches that I could not hardly bear and the only thing I could do to fight them was to sleep all day. To find out what disease I had, at the age of eight I had a kidney biopsy which revealed the disease and how rare and difficult it would be to treat it. At that time it was very rare with only 12 known cases in the world and I was the only living case.

Not knowing what else to do for sure, the doctors put me on five times the adult dose of cortisone (a steroid) during ages 6 and 7 for two years. Cortisone has short and long term side effects so some I did not experience until later in life. I was also limited in physical activity until I was a Senior in High School, so I really did not develop physically very well. It's unknown what really caused this rare kidney disease but now it really doesn't matter. I simply have to live with and accept it. But I do have to pay medical bills that go far beyond a normal persons.

Several years after the cortisone, it brought on other side conditions that required I take a different medication starting in about 1990. I was approximately thirty four. But this medicine caused severe damage to my kidneys. The earlier kidney ailment had been in remission until then. I had to take this later medication not knowing about the side affects it would produce on my kidneys for fifteen years and the doctors never mentioned the possibility it could, but by the time the deterioration to my kidneys was discovered it was too late. The damage had already been done.

I now have only about 3% kidney function, and have to be on Dialysis three days a week for four hours and fifteen minutes each day. I have ESRD (End Stage Renal Failure) Stage 5. Stage 5 is the last stage before total failure which qualifies me for transplant. Click here to read more on Wikipedia about Stage 5 ESRD. These kidney problems have also caused congestive heart failure, diabetes (also hereditary) and blood pressure problems, not to mention a lot of other medical issues which many times have required hospitalization and always with the ongoing fear of a heart attack or stroke, which is common among those on Dialysis.

When I have any surgery I usually have to stay an extra day or two so that Dialysis treatment can be done to ensure there will be no problems upon my release. That means more in out of pocket expenses for the extra days, and "in hospital"� Dialysis is more expensive.

I do know this: it will be expensive to get a transplant and my out of pocket costs for additional medication will skyrocket because I will have to take anti-rejection medicines and other special medications. This will continue for the rest of my life. I know they will get expensive because I was told by the intake workers for the transplant program and the transplant nurses. Some medications may be name brand and not generic, so that will be more expensive. This is in addition to the medications I already have to take now that have out of pocket costs totaling about seventy five dollars a month.

Here is a summary of my medical expenses to explain why it's so important for you to donate and make a difference:

My current Kidney Dialysis treatments are $25 per treatment (my portion). Multiply that by three days a week and you get $75. Then multiply $75 a week by 52 weeks in a year and you see that the Kidney Dialysis out of pocket expense alone is $3,900 per year. I still owe the Dialysis Clinic for the treatments I've had since December of 2008 which total $27,300 (3,900 X 7 = $27,300). And that does not including treatments from now moving forward.

Regular monthly out of pocket expenses to various specialist doctors that I must see every month is about $175. Past out of pocket expenses I still owe to specialists are $1250 or more.

Outstanding expenses to hospitals for SIX hospital stays and surgeries since 2007 exceeding $2,500 at 300-$500 each visit. Other hospitalizations in the past 3 years are about $1200.

Due to a recent surgery on the right ear to remove a chronic infection I no longer hear out of it at all. I have a hearing aid but need the money I spent on it, which is over $1400.

A motorized wheelchair I must use for distances over a block since my legs have permanent damage due to diabetes have a cost to me of just under $900.

I need our van for the motorized chair. The van is in serious need of about $1000 mechanical work and maintenance that we can't afford.

Lately: I had Bariatric surgery to loose the weight necessary for the kidney transplant. The earlier cortisone medication (a steroid) taken as a child cause me to gain a lot of weight and I could never lose it. I'm missing a lot of teeth and my partials fail quickly because I lose the teeth that hold them, and dental work is totally out of pocket except for cleaning, which is inadequate to gain better chewing with my teeth. Just cleaning still carries an expense we can't afford. Having so many teeth missing or broken make it difficult to chew food properly, so I have frequent digestive problems that are complicated by this recent surgery. Dental problems are a major problem now!

About dental problems: As a baby I was given medicine that may have caused the kidney failure later as well as causing a deformity with my teeth. Removal of several teeth that grew together in my gums was deemed an emergency and oral surgery was done the same afternoon. That was at the age of seven. A a lot of them came in without enamel and my adult teeth were supposed to come back in normally but never did. To date I haven't been able to afford to get them corrected properly. Because I have so many crowns and caps already, even though they are deteriorated and broken, dentists say that insurance won't cover much more than cleaning, not even dentures. This causes me to not be able to chew my food properly which is a big deal because of the Bariatric surgery. It seems the answer to correct the dental problems once and for all are implants which are completely 100% out of pocket. There are approximately 15 teeth that need implants. Based on an approximate cost of $1,000 each for implant that comes to $15,000.00.

The total costs from the above are over $50,000 which is why I've set the goal of this fundraising campaign for $50,000.00.

Why not look to other sources? I am now Permanently Disabled and my check barely pays our rent. My wife's income barely covers our day to day expenses and she works very hard and sometimes difficult, long hours. We do not live lavishly or beyond our means. If I don't pay the medical bills while I'm alive my wife will be left with nothing after I pass away, as the money will go to unpaid past bills. So just not paying the bills isn't the answer in the long run, and I personally see it as part of the problem with our health care system.

We know there are programs and grants. We have checked with them but they usually consider only income, not expenses. Our income is barely enough for our expenses. When our income (including my wife's) is considered, we're "overqualified"� for help. Medicare Advantage Insurance still pays only 80% of any medical bill. The American Kidney Foundation pays about $70 a month towards my Medicare Advantage premium, but I may have to pay that premium after the transplant since I would no longer be on Dialysis, unless the transplant fails.

I have a Medicare Advantage plan because I get two extra benefits: Dental and Vision, which I need, but there is still a 20% out of pocket expense. I currently need glasses and other medical needs, such as to pay off my motorized chair, fix the van for it, and catch up on my bills for medications. I'm supposed to get a new pair of glasses every year because of diabetes but I can't even up with enough for that!

California's MediCal (Medicaid in other states) uses total income, but not expenses, to calculate eligibility when you apply for it. Due to our combined income MediCal reports that I must pay $1500 a month before MediCal will cover anything. It's as if I do not even have MediCal as secondary insurance! Other secondary insurance for me is too expensive because of my kidney condition, even using my wife's policy from her job. When I originally enrolled in Medicare I did not learn until a couple of years later that to obtain Supplemental MediCal which would pay 20%, I would have needed to sign up within a few months of obtaining Medicare, so thats no longer an option.

The best we can do for my Life Insurance is to have two policies totaling only about $1600.00. This is because of the ESRD status. The ability to obtain more or better Life Insurance probably will not change, even after the transplant. $1600 will barely pay final expenses and I am certain the medical creditors will seize what's left. I really do not want to leave my wonderful long-suffering wife in such a horrible financial position.

FINALLY, LET ME SHARE WITH YOU MY DREAM: I've always wanted to be a screen actor and had gotten off to a good start until I was forced to start dialysis. A transplant would help me to continue pursuing that dream if it's successful. You can make a difference! To see what I've accomplished so far visit my movie and TV credits page on the Internet Movie Database Website by clicking here. Note that a lot of credits aren't there like student films, other TV shows and movies, other Extra work, Internet commercials, and Industrials. I had not yet gotten to a point where I made very much money doing it. To view a YouTube Videos and listen to a song I recorded with a friend click here. Finally visit my blog by clicking here, where I post updates to everything going on. You can also find me on Facebook by clicking here. Send me a friend request! And enjoy the links!

I need your mailing address to send a "Thank You"� postcard to you and any gifts you may qualify for based on the Reward Levels. A picture of the FREE T-SHIRT is at the bottom.** Reward Levels make it easy to choose an amount, or you can enter your own amount with the link provided. All donors receive my "Thanks"� with a customized "Thank You" postcard signed by me! They have the website address on it to share with your friends, post on bulletin boards at civic centers, churches, or anywhere to help even more!

REMEMBER: YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! ALSO HELP BY SHARING MY LINK TO YOUR FACEBOOK, TWITTER, WEBSITE, BLOG or EMAIL CONTACTS EASILY BY USING THE BUTTONS AT THE TOP. CLICK THE "EMBED" BUTTON BY MY PICTURE TO GET CODE FOR A BUTTON TO PASTE INTO YOUR BLOG OR WEBSITE. PRINT A FLYER FOR POSTING ON BULLETIN BOARDS AT CIVIC CENTERS, CHURCHES, OR ANY PLACE YOU THINK WOULD BE GOOD BY CLICKING THE BUTTON TO "PRINT A SIGN".

THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ MY PAGE AND THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR DONATION! BELOW IS A SAMPLE PICTURE OF THE FREE T-SHIRT I OFFER AS A THANK YOU GIFT AT SOME LEVELS. SEE THE LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS FOR DETAILS.

** Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery of T-Shirts or other gifts.