September 9, 2025

Hello my name is James, I’m writing on behalf of my family and my dad. You may know my dad as Josh, but to me he is just Dad. Dad is a father to myself and my four younger siblings. He is also a father figure and mentor to his partner’s five children. Dad has plans to re-marry, make a home, continue working and providing to all ten of the children in his family. He worries he won’t be around to continue fulfilling his duties as a provider and a father. I am writing as his eldest son as a plea for help to support the medical care that Dad needs to survive End Stage Chronic Kidney Failure.

For context, Dad was doing his best to manage kidney disease. He was laid off this year and that caused him to lose the health insurance supporting his kidney care. After that, his health declined quickly but he had no insured access to medical support while he looked for a employment. In June, he found a new job and continued to work and rebuild while struggling with his disease, waiting on edge for his health insurance to kick in because he really needed kidney evaluations. A day before his new insurance started, he was rushed to ER with pain and extreme swelling in his legs on August 17th. It was too late. His kidneys were rapidly failing in real time functioning at 5% of their normal capacity. To stabilize his condition, he received an emergency chest catheter and was hooked up to a hemo-dialysis machine that did the work his kidneys used to do. His progress was offset by a bacterial staph infection acquired during his hospital stay.

Right now to survive, Dad needs to be hooked up to machine at a treatment center. This life-giving treatment interrupts his ability to fulfill his work duties and since he cannot fulfill his work duties, he receives no income. Because he is still new at his current job, he does not qualify for FMLA. Due to all of these uncontrollable factors, his employment status and therefore his health insurance and access to his treatments are at risk.

WAYS THAT YOU CAN HELP

Dad’s bacterial infection needs to clear up before he even can be considered for Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) surgery. We don't really know if he will be approved, but even then it still means being hooked up to a machine to survive. Realistically, his life is completely changed- but Dad is hopeful he will gain the energy to return to his family and work goals. Your help and kindness will support the current cost of his treatments that carry an out of pocket deductible of $6,300. This amount does not change as long as his employment status holding his health insurance remains intact throughout his needed treatments. After covering his needed treatments, your support with help cover his hospital bill, other medical costs, and hopefully as much of the living expenses of our family that includes the needs of my four younger siblings and five step-siblings.

Dad is a regular guy that is sometimes shy and sometimes struggles to ask for help. He likes filming videos, reading books, and sci-fi. He loves a delicious meal. We share a mutual love for video games. He never hesitates to offer life advice to anyone. I think asking for help is a really hard thing to do for him because he wants to be able to hold himself up on his own. I get him because I am the same way. I know he has raised me to be who I am today, as a man who will step up and take care of things when the time is right. That time is now. My dad has been a role model and a guide to me and I know my siblings will need him for that too. I won't go into what I've read about survival rates of dialysis patients because he is still with us now. All I know is that I hope for him to live a long life and watch all of his children grow and build families of our own.

From my heart, I hope that you can help in any way by offering any amount big or small, writing or calling him a with a kind supportive note, or sharing the link to his fundraiser. I appreciate any support you can provide to Dad's care.

Thank you for reading and for your consideration to help an everyday family support our dad through a difficult time.

Respectfully,

James

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August 30, 2025

Hi, my name is Josh. I'm just an ordinary person living through extraordinarily difficult times.

I've always done my best to do everything in my life on my own. Often times succeeding, sometimes failing. The point is that I prefer to not ask for help feeling that I should be able to do these things on my own and hoping never to be a bother to anyone. Unfortunately, my health hasn't been the greatest in the past and Kidney Failure was always a possibility. That time has come and the impact to my life, the lives of my family, is significant.

I'm a father of five beautiful children, a wonderful fiancé, an IT Professional, and on my off time, a Part Time (Small Time) YouTuber. I'm also a freshly minted Dialysis Patient, and THIS is a very huge change in my life.

I have reached the point where I need to ask for help, if not for myself, then for my family. As you can imagine, Kidney Failure and Hemo-Dialysis will have a serious impact on my ability to do things for myself, to work, even to do every day normal tasks. Since coming home from the hospital, I have had trouble staying up and mobile and doing the simplest of tasks (such as cleaning, laundry, etc). I am currently experiencing extreme fatigue, dizzyness and brain fog.

My goal, with this GoFundMe, is to buy time. There are a few factors that are limiting my ability to work and some events I'm waiting to pass in order to return to my current job. Buying time is the only option I see as a way forward. It will allow me the space to recuperate, continue Hemo-Dialysis, and wait to be scheduled for surgery that will transition me from Hemo-Dialysis Treatment to Peritoneal Dialysis. Peritoneal Dialysis will allow me to perform treatment every day (in the evening) and grants me the flexibility to be independent and capable of working without restriction.

This GoFundMe provides a chance to buy the time I need as a Dialysis Patient to continue fulfilling my role as a father and fiancé. My commitment to returning to work, to support my family, and maintain my health are my end goals. I just need help getting there. As I continue to be away from work for the treatments I need, my thoughts linger on the possibility of losing my job and insurance and am agonizing over this and my ability to provide for my family.

This GoFundMe would provide security for my family and peace of mind in the event the worse comes to happen. Your immediate help will allow me to maintain my insurance (and my treatment) and allow me to stay afloat long enough to get past the wait for scheduling my next surgery.

I am fully aware of how hard times are for everyone. I am ashamed to ask this of you. But asking and getting a "No" is better then refusing to ask and never knowing if help was there. Just know that if you are able to help, that I would be immensely grateful to your generosity. Whatever you provide will go a long way and would be gratefully accepted.

Thank you for your time and kindest of regards.

Joshua