Greysen’s Fight with FSGS

Greysen Gregory is a loving, cheerful, and bright little boy. He just turned two in August, merely one month before all of his troubles began. Greysen was first diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome, which is a kidney disorder that causes the body to excrete too much protein, hence creating a protein deficiency. He began treatment for Nephrotic Syndrome, but it was short lived, because Greysen was not responding to treatment, ultimately putting his health in danger. Post being diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome, Greysen was hospitalized on numerous occasions, as the doctors attempted to re-diagnose him. The present diagnosis Greysen was given is; Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). FSGS is the most common cause of steroid resistant Nephrotic Syndrome, hence why Greysen was not responding to treatment, as well as being the second leading cause of kidney failure in children. Some of the symptoms of FSGS that Greysen entailed are; a protein deficiency due to the leaking through his kidneys(proteinuria), swelling throughout his body (edema), and high blood pressure. FSGS is a very rare kidney disease, and only occurs in two to four children out of one hundred thousand, and unfortunately our little guy became one of those statistics. Greysen had surgery nearly three weeks ago, to conduct a biopsy on his kidneys, and to insert a port into his chest to make it easier and less painful to administer his medications/treatments. Greysen has currently been hospitalized for seventeen days, and each day he receives a treatment, that can take anywhere from four to eight hours to complete. He has also recently had a blood transfusion to accommodate for his body’s inability to replenish what is being removed. Greysen now has many dietary restrictions, requiring constant monitoring of his sodium and fluid intake. It is quite possible that FSGS, and the treatments will put Greysen into stage four renal failure, and he might ending up needing a kidney transplant in the near future. Greysen’s family is doing all we can to support him and his mom; Mary AuClaire through this tragic journey. Mary is a single mother, and Greysen’s primary caregiver. Due to the high demand of Greysen’s medical needs, Mary has not left his side and because of that was recently let go from her job. Social Services stated they were unable to assist Mary in any type of financial aid at this point. As a single mother, she has many bills and responsibilities to take care of, and due to Greysen’s current situation, they cannot be. I made this page with the hopes of Greysen’s story getting out there and touching peoples hearts, as he has done to ours. Greysen is my first cousin, as well as my godson, and I took it upon myself to seek help for our family. If you are unable to make any type of donation, we please ask that you at least share this post. Thank you so much for reading this, and we hope Greysen will be on the road to recovery very soon!