GOFUNDME FOR MIKE FELL
Donation protected
I would like to introduce you to one of the greatest humans God ever created. Mike Fell is a 51-year-old husband, father, provider, and faithful friend. He is also man that is in dire need of support.
Mike has polyscistic kidney disease, it is hereditary and runs in his family. Over time, this disease has debilitated his kidneys. Currently he is at stage 5, kidney failure, and is on dialysis which is functioning for him now as his kidneys. The dialysis is done nightly at home on a machine that is connected to a port that is in his abdomen. Mike has been on this type of dialysis since June of 2020. Like most treatments for a terminal illness, the dialysis digresses in effectiveness and is not detoxifying Mike’s blood as appropriately as it should. Also, with the digression of effectiveness, fatigue and lethargy sets in which causes Mike’s quality of life to be significantly impacted. With this digression, he is in the process of transitioning to what is called “hemodialysis” which is a blood-infused procedure done through injecting the dialysis medication into his veins and arteries through a fistula in his arm. The dialysis treatment is not at all intended to be a long term treatment. The hemodialysis will digress just as the peritoneal dialysis has. Dialysis is simply a means of stabilization and maintenance until the ideal circumstance comes along . . . and that is a kidney transplant.
The reality of being a recipient for a kidney is a grim one. Mike has been on the waiting list for a kidney since he started his dialysis (June 2020). The national waiting list for a kidney has over 100,000 on that list. The average wait time for a kidney from this list is 5-8 years. Many lose their battle with their kidney failure before their kidney becomes available. The national kidney list is for deceased kidneys (these are the organs that become available when someone dies and has permitted their organs to be donated).
The ideal scenario would be to be the recipient of a living donor. What does this mean? It means that someone volunteers to be a live donor and give their kidney to another person. The living donor is the best case scenario as living donor kidneys tend to last twice as long and respond to the recipient much more efficiently. Often family members are the willing donor, but because Mike’s disease is hereditary, that is just not an option.
Everyone is born with a “spare” kidney. We only need one kidney to have a full and vivacious life. Also, as the donor, all of your expenses are covered and your recovery is minimal as the procedure is liproscopic and incisions are quite small. The sacrifice is quite minimal when the return is a saved life for one that would not live without your kidney. Below you will see a link to the Live Donor foundation that can guide you into the process of investigating whether or not you could be the one that gives the gift of life to this amazing man.
Another reality of a kidney transplant is cost. The 2019 average cost of a kidney transplant was approximately $420,000 (according to the National Kidney Foundation). Recipients are required to cover 20% of this cost. So, Mike’s family will be responsible for $84,000 of the transplant procedure. Additionally, Mike will be taking anti-rejection medicines for the rest of his life. These meds cost on average $28,000 annually. So that’s over $2,000/month of medicine expenses.
In spite of Mike’s debilitating health issues, he continues to maintain a full-time job to provide for his family. However, these additional medical expenses will not be possible to be covered by Mike’s salary alone nor his medical insurance. There is a dire and urgent need for financial contributions at this time. Mike is required to have a percentage of these funds up front before he is even accepted for a transplant surgery.
Mike’s family has been through so much over the past five years. Mike lost his only daughter, Morgan, in a single car accident in December of 2016. She was only 16 years old. This tragedy not only crippled this family emotionally, but the agony of Mike’s loss exacerbated his disease and has caused his kidneys to deteriorate on a much quicker level. During these five years since Morgan going to heaven, finances have been a constant struggle as Mike was fired from his corporate job only four months after his daughter went to heaven. In the months prior to him coming on board with the current amazing company that he is with now, the family lived off of credit to the best of their ability. His wife, Melanie, was debilitated with grief and PTSD from their daughter’s death and had to receive treatment as well. The debt they incrued while working through their grief is still with them today.
Mike has two amazing sons that are still living . . . Max is a senior at Summit High School and is a committed D1 Baseball Player to go to MTSU (Middle Tennessee State University) in the Fall of 2022. Myles is 12 and is an amazing athlete as well with a bright future. Mike wants more than anything to regain a quality of life that can empower him to be fully present for his two boys as they grow. His health is keeping him from being able to enjoy their lives as he wishes and to be an integral part of what they are passionate about. Like any father, he simply wants to be the best version of Dad that he can possibly be.
At this point in their lives, the Fell Family is in greater need than they ever have been. In a place of need where they cannot provide the resources they need on their own. Mike has lived his life as a man to care for others and to serve others with such humility and grace. If there is ever a man or a family that needs help in this day and age, it is Mike Fell and the Fell Family.
Here are the links that will introduce you to the option of being a living kidney donor. Mike is on the list at both UAB (University of Alabama in Birmingham) and Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville Tennessee. Both are accepting live donor applications on his behalf.
Co-organizers (3)
Bob Hirth
Organizer
Spring Hill, TN
Mike Fell
Beneficiary
Melanie Fell
Co-organizer
Todd Brown
Co-organizer