Help Sierra Fight Kidney Failure

I am setting up this Go Fund me page on behalf of my niece, Sierra Winter-Klepel. 

 

Sierra and her family are asking that you donate to her Go Fund Me page and share it on your social media. All donations will go toward the cost of medical and living expenses.

Here is her story:

 

Sierra is 20 years old. She graduated from Las Vegas Academy of the Performing Arts in 2019. She’s exuberant & bubbly with musical ambitions. She loves to sing, play bassoon, saxophone and guitar.

She was in Girl Scouts from K-12 earning her Gold Award for her community service project.

 

She attends Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York.  Where she is earning a degree in Sound Recording Technology with a minor in Integrated Marketing Communication with a goal to graduate by 2023. She is also an RA (Resident Advisor) at the school.

On Dec. 5, 2021 Sierra quickly realized something was wrong when she was extremely shaky, had a hard time breathing, and was unable to sit up without feeling like she was going to pass out. She was taken to the Cayuga Medical Clinic and admitted to the ICU where they ran many tests, scans, and gave her blood transfusions. It was determined that her condition was very severe. Her lungs were filled up with 75% fluid and her kidneys were in failure. They were unable to treat her condition there and transferred her in an ambulance to the ICU at Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira, New York. When she got there they ran even more tests and scans. She had 4 blood transfusions and was given dialysis treatments to replace the function of her kidneys.

 

After a biopsy of her kidney was done, she was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease called ANCA Vasculitis. This autoimmune disease causes inflammation and damage to small blood vessels, lungs, and kidneys. 

Sierra spent a total of 12 days in the hospital. She lost over 70-80% of her kidney function which will not recover. The goal is to get her stable enough so that she can get a new kidney. She has been placed on a form of chemotherapy which is an infusion treatment that they hope will help stabilize her condition so she can get on the kidney transplant list. She has been put on multiple medications to help with this condition and will be receiving dialysis treatments three times a week in order to survive.

 

Overnight Sierra’s life has done a complete 180. While she is grateful to have health insurance the medical bills will quickly be stacking up. Her immune system is very low and she still struggles with doing basic everyday functions so she is unable to get a job at this time to help with paying her bills. She will be responsible for any deductibles, copays, and out of pocket costs that the health insurance does not cover. Her parents flew out to New York to be with her and will need to stay out there while she receives her treatments which will mean additional housing costs. They will also need to obtain a vehicle to provide transportation for her treatments. This is a huge financial hardship on her family and she needs these treatments in order to survive.

We appreciate the support, prayers, and well wishes from everyone! Anything helps, we want to thank everyone for taking the time to read this and hope you will consider donating. Sierra is very grateful to know how many people care about her and are hoping for her success on this journey!