Hey Everyone,

First and foremost, thank you for reading my story and sharing if you can.

My name is Carlos Jose Vergara Alegre. I am a father of two and a husband. I am a United States Marine Corps Veteran, and a very little-known fact about me - I am at Stage 5 Chronic Kidney Disease/End Stage Renal Disease and have been on hemodialysis for the last 4 years.

What caused me to be where I am at right now is an autoimmune disease called IGA Nephropathy. It causes inflammation that over time slowly damages your kidneys until failure. But who was I before this disease forever changed my life.

In November of 2021, I found out my kidney function was at 16% and by February 2022 it was below 5%, so I started hemodialysis. For the past 4 years I connect to a machine that filters my blood and removes excess fluid for no less than 4 hours a session 4 times a week.

One of the side effects of dialysis and kidney disease is a weakened immune system. In the past 4 years I have been hospitalized for no less than a week's stay 5 times. I also suffer from bouts of severe fatigue and anemia, which sometimes requires a blood transfusion.

Before my diagnosis i spent the previous 14 years as a Surgical Technologist, which with my symptoms makes it extremely difficult and unfortunately I stopped working a year after my diagnosis. For extra income now I have done gig type jobs such as doordash, but even than sometimes my will tell me that its too much and unfortunately my vehicle that I use has been acting up and needs repairs.

Any donations that you may find in your heart to give will go towards medical copays for hospital stays and medication, repairs to the vehicle, supplies I use to create more media searching for and raising awareness for Living Kidney Donors, expenses that unfortunately have fallen behind on. Any help is greatly appreciated, and if your unable to I appreciate it if you share my story.