Hi, my name is Anthony Gardina. I’m the only child of my wonderful mother, Cindy Gardina. This is for her.
I am hoping to raise money to help my parents. They have worked hard all their lives, but over the last 2 years' have been devastated financially as a result of my mother's critical illness. My dad ( who has a bad heart & other health issues of his own) is her primary caregiver (she needs help with nearly every aspect of daily life, meals, bathing, coordinating dialysis, supplies, weekly injections, transport etc. etc. ) and he has not been able to work as much as he would like to while caring for her, and now must take a leave of absence but still pay the insurance premium, which further compounds the issue.
She has multiple auto immune disorders (polychondritis and anca vasculitis) similar to a cancer (no cure, but in remission), that has destroyed her kidneys, & could attack other organs if not held in check. This started in Dec 2019/Jan 2020. This came out of nowhere. She nearly died in the hospital. She has been on dialysis since Jan 2021, chemo therapy, plasmapheresis, and blood transfusions. She is only 62 yrs old. Her condition is so rare her doctor(s) wrote & published a paper regarding her condition in a medical journal so that others may benefit from her experiences.
She thankfully qualified for & is on the kidney donor list. We are also actively looking for a donor.
They/we need help with medical bills, living expenses, mortgage/home in foreclosure, transportation & more. They also are going to need a reliable vehicle, as once she gets a kidney (God willing) as they will have to drive to Cincinnati UC health center 4x/week.
Additionally, their portion the massive cost of rejection suppressant drugs that will be required post transplant will still be quite substantial.
I hate doing this and asking for help, While I physically help as much as I can, I am not able to alleviate their financial crisis. I'm trying to do all I can for her and ease the extreme stress a little with less of a financial burden during these very hard times. Any questions feel free to ask. Again, I hate doing this, but at this point we're pretty much out of options. At the very least please keep my mother in your prayers & possibly share this page. Thank you and God bless.