Cait Littlefair's Kidney Transplant
Donation protected
THE STORY
Hello friends.
Our story begins in 2011 when my wife Cait first discovered she had Chronic Kidney Disease. This was a resulting condition from her type 1 diabetes which she has had since she was 4 years old. As with many type 1 diabetics, there are risks and health struggles, some of which get overlooked or undiagnosed. For Cait, this was severe hypertension which had accelerated her kidney disease.
At that point in 2011 she was diagnosed with stage 4 CKD and 21% Kidney function but with the help of some amazing doctors, nephrologists and my wife’s incredible resilience to letting anything knock her over we managed to make the best of things.
Of course, we knew we had to make arrangements for a kidney transplant and thankfully myself and Cait’s mother were both perfect matches for living donor transplantation. We had everything set up over the last 12 months for whenever the time came for Cait to get a kidney transplant and avoid dialysis altogether. She also managed to remain stage 4 CKD with a base line fluctuation of 16-20% function until June 2017. We felt confident that time was somewhat in our control.
Fast forward to June 4th 2017 when suddenly she began to feel very tired and run down. She had been seeing a nephrologist on a regular basis and there was no reason to believe this was more than the usual tiredness a teacher feels at the end of the year. He ordered labs which revealed that she had fallen from a 15% level to a 5% level of kidney function. This happened in less than three months. All of our careful planning was replaced by panic and a trip to the ER where we found that her kidneys were indeed 5% and failing by the day. Since she had held steady for so long, we thought this day was months and even years away.
As of this post my wife has just started dialysis and either her mother or myself will be donating one of our kidneys on Wednesday June 14th..
Cait has saved my life on countless occasions and has the most beautiful spirit and heart that she gives to everyone she meets. For anyone who knows Cait, they know the resilience in her is real and even today she still refuses to go down without fighting, but we need your help
WHY GOFUNDME?
Help is not an easy thing for us to ask for, as we are hardworking people and consider ourselves fortunate; but this disease, the unexpected and rapid decline in kidney function has taken a toll on us. We have been planning for the financial implications of this entire process as best as possible but with the unplanned hospital stays which so far will be 5 nights before any transplant surgery takes place and the dialysis we had hoped to avoid, we are facing some considerably unattainable medical expenses. The money raised here will help with the medical costs, time away from work for both Cait and the Donor and everything after surgery.
Cait and I both have health insurance but there is a lot of costly expense that insurance will not cover, it only goes so far.
Here are some of the anticipated costs before and after the transplant.
· Pre-surgery evaluations and donor testing
· The surgery itself (including surgeons and operating staff fees and anesthesia)
· Time spent in ICU
· Care of proxy for both donor and Cait
· Travel expenses for donor
· Post-Op physical therapy and rehab
· Dialysis
· Anti-rejection medications
· Lost wages
· Numerous post-op doctors visits and ongoing treatment
HOW YOU CAN HELP
-Share our story on social media with an optional personal message
-Donate whatever you can to this GoFundMe page
-Send positive thoughts, vibes, and prayers to Cait for a speedy recovery
Hello friends.
Our story begins in 2011 when my wife Cait first discovered she had Chronic Kidney Disease. This was a resulting condition from her type 1 diabetes which she has had since she was 4 years old. As with many type 1 diabetics, there are risks and health struggles, some of which get overlooked or undiagnosed. For Cait, this was severe hypertension which had accelerated her kidney disease.
At that point in 2011 she was diagnosed with stage 4 CKD and 21% Kidney function but with the help of some amazing doctors, nephrologists and my wife’s incredible resilience to letting anything knock her over we managed to make the best of things.
Of course, we knew we had to make arrangements for a kidney transplant and thankfully myself and Cait’s mother were both perfect matches for living donor transplantation. We had everything set up over the last 12 months for whenever the time came for Cait to get a kidney transplant and avoid dialysis altogether. She also managed to remain stage 4 CKD with a base line fluctuation of 16-20% function until June 2017. We felt confident that time was somewhat in our control.
Fast forward to June 4th 2017 when suddenly she began to feel very tired and run down. She had been seeing a nephrologist on a regular basis and there was no reason to believe this was more than the usual tiredness a teacher feels at the end of the year. He ordered labs which revealed that she had fallen from a 15% level to a 5% level of kidney function. This happened in less than three months. All of our careful planning was replaced by panic and a trip to the ER where we found that her kidneys were indeed 5% and failing by the day. Since she had held steady for so long, we thought this day was months and even years away.
As of this post my wife has just started dialysis and either her mother or myself will be donating one of our kidneys on Wednesday June 14th..
Cait has saved my life on countless occasions and has the most beautiful spirit and heart that she gives to everyone she meets. For anyone who knows Cait, they know the resilience in her is real and even today she still refuses to go down without fighting, but we need your help
WHY GOFUNDME?
Help is not an easy thing for us to ask for, as we are hardworking people and consider ourselves fortunate; but this disease, the unexpected and rapid decline in kidney function has taken a toll on us. We have been planning for the financial implications of this entire process as best as possible but with the unplanned hospital stays which so far will be 5 nights before any transplant surgery takes place and the dialysis we had hoped to avoid, we are facing some considerably unattainable medical expenses. The money raised here will help with the medical costs, time away from work for both Cait and the Donor and everything after surgery.
Cait and I both have health insurance but there is a lot of costly expense that insurance will not cover, it only goes so far.
Here are some of the anticipated costs before and after the transplant.
· Pre-surgery evaluations and donor testing
· The surgery itself (including surgeons and operating staff fees and anesthesia)
· Time spent in ICU
· Care of proxy for both donor and Cait
· Travel expenses for donor
· Post-Op physical therapy and rehab
· Dialysis
· Anti-rejection medications
· Lost wages
· Numerous post-op doctors visits and ongoing treatment
HOW YOU CAN HELP
-Share our story on social media with an optional personal message
-Donate whatever you can to this GoFundMe page
-Send positive thoughts, vibes, and prayers to Cait for a speedy recovery
Organizer
Matt Littlefair
Organizer
Hoboken, NJ
