HELP plea for this LIFE

Hello, my name is Randy, I am 64 years old, and this picture of me was taken about a year before I had been diagnosed with End Stage Kidney Failure in 2020. When I was told of this by my doctor, I didn't believe it. I went another 6 months before I found myself only to be able to walk about 25 yards before getting short of breath.

In January of 2021, just at the beginning of The Worldwide Pandemic, I was instructed to go into a clinic to diagnose the severe shortness of breath which I was feeling. I barely made it into the door of the clinic from the parking lot and had to stop five times to catch my breath. Once the doctor saw me he took an X-Ray and found it was not Pneumonia but that my lungs were half full of fluid. Then, he told me to go into the Emergency Room at at the hospital, but instead of offering to call an ambulance for me, after asking him, he said I would need to find a way to get there.

Once I was checked-in at the ER, I was tended to, given a transfusion, and monitored. The CT department was backed up and there were no open beds in the hospital for me which left me waiting overnight in the ER. The next morning I was already on 15 L. of O2 by mask which kept me comfortable but still short of breath. They decided to take me for CT which showed the fluid in my lungs. I came back to the ER for a little while when they decided that I needed to be Dialyzed as an Emergency.

They then rushed me to the catheterization lab but had unhooked me from the O2 for transport. By the time I reached the lab, I felt I was only a minute away from death. I couldn't breathe.

They gave me O2 and then placed a catheter into me for Dialysis which was where I went for the next 5 hours.

That was the beginning of Hemodialysis for me which I stayed on for a year. After much reading research papers, I found that there was more longevity from Peritoneal Dialysis, to what I switched to.

I have been on both types of dialysis since 2021 up till now and have learned that the average life on dialysis is about 5 years. The statistics also show that transplant has a 12 year average longevity.

I decided to try in getting a Kidney transplant and found Mayo Clinic in Arizona for they have a program that uses low or no Cortical Steroids, which I am allergic to.

The problem is that I living in Hawaii, Arizona is far away. I have not found any type of assistance to help me with travel and lodging costs for all the medical visits I need to do for my transplant.

One thing that has been clear to me is that the medical community does not educate the public on all the consequences of this rampant disease. The Kidney failure would kill me within days without the dialysis but then, the dialysis is also causing many complications, from daily dehydration, blood pressure swings, as well as peripheral neuropathies in my extremities. On top of that, I initially lost 60 pounds of weight along with the muscles I had. This leaves me feeling very weak but only lately learned that the kidneys help us produce Red Blood Cells. It is the RBC in our bodies that helps us rebuild our muscles and helps to keep down the neuropathies caused by inflammation.

Now that I am disabled, weak. and have brain fog, along with 10 hours of dialysis a day, I cannot work a regular job as before. I am living only on my disability and have minimal funds for daily life.

Therefore, I am in need your help so I can see my doctors to get on the transplant list and when a donor is found fulfill the small time window to go back to Arizona for the procedure.

I ask for your help as I feel my time is starting to become short. This is my HELP plea for my LIFE!

My ordeal in the hospital had me in there from Feb. 16 to today May 7th. I have been through four surgeries while going through Hemodialysis. They tried to discharge me twice to a facility I had heard was supposed to be good but almost died both times from not just shortness of breath but complete respiratory distress! Both times I ended up back in a hospital ER in only four days after discharge. 

Now I’m starting rehab and there are many items I will need to purchase as well as any transportation. So, once again, I ask for your help since I will also need to pay for a caregiver when I go home in a couple of weeks. Until I get prosthesis to walk again, life will be very difficult living alone.