Josh’s Second Chance - His Search for a Kidney
Donation protected
**KIDNEY DISEASE IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN THE US**
Hi everyone,
I am starting this gofundme for my new to the family brother-in-law and sister as they face the challenging search to find him a kidney donor. I am hoping this will relieve some of the financial pressure of weekly medical appointments, tests, baskets full of prescriptions and adhoc hospitalizations.
First, I think it’s important for everyone to know that Josh is fighting a genetic kidney disease. This is not something that has been brought on by complications of COVID-19 or diabetes but something that was completely out of his control. At the age of 9, Josh was rushed to the hospital and near death before being diagnosed with Step induced Membranoproliferative Glomerulonephritis (where the immune system attacks the kidneys), leading to IgA Nephropathy. Since then, he has been navigating doctors appointments and lifestyle changes to try to manage his kidney failure.
Unfortunately, in March 2020, at 27 years old and immunocompromised in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Josh’s kidneys had declined enough to require peritoneal dialysis (PD). He was able to get set-up with at-home PD dialysis, which allowed him to maintain his full-time job at a school in Newcastle, WA while also attending school for his teaching certification. While many people are aware that dialysis allows those with kidney failure to live, what people don’t know, is that toxins are continually building up in his body all day until dialysis takes place at night - a body with fully functioning kidneys are able to filter these toxins all day. As toxins build, so does the feeling of fatigue and illness which interferes with maintaining daily activities. Nightly dialysis means that Josh has to be hooked to a machine 8-9 hours a night meaning he has to calculate exactly what time he needs to be in bed and hooked up based on what time he has to wake-up for his day – and sometimes that means he has to leave family dinners early, miss evening outings with friends and forego evening events like Jazz concerts or playing in a band that he had previously enjoyed. And dialysis doesn't just affect his daily life but prevents him from partaking in activities he previously enjoyed, like swimming in the summer because the dialysis port is a direct opening to the inside of his body so any pool, lake or ocean water could cause an infection.
Despite being tired, sick and dealing with side effects of PD, like wildly swollen limbs, Josh has been determined to maintain as much of a normal life as he can, whether that’s chasing his passion for photography, expanding his skills at agility and dog training with their dog, Angel, teaching Math to his students, or pursuing his Masters in education. He's so full of life but his body is shutting him down.
In October 2021, a simple seasonal sinus infection turned into a bout of pneumonia after his immune system wouldn’t respond to antibiotics. This landed him in the hospital for 4 days with fluid around his lungs and his heart. After being pumped with fluids and antibiotics at the hospital, he was allowed to go home. But, note, his doctors did not allow him to immediately go back to work as he was still too weak and the risk of further germ exposure was too great. This caused him to use up all but about 4 days of his PTO for the entire year.
On November 11, 2021, Josh learned that this last round of pneumonia had taken any last small amount of function from his kidneys. This means that after a year and a half of PD dialysis, it is no longer working to remove toxins from his body. While Josh and his team of doctors are trying one last ditch effort with the amount of dialysis he’s on (ie. pumping more fluids into his body for a longer period of time to try to remove toxins), the next major step to keep him alive is to move to dialysis of the blood, hemodialysis. This is required because despite PD, there continues to be a large build up of toxins that is making its way into his bloodstream.
Hemodialysis is an intense and time-consuming form of dialysis. If Josh needed to switch to this form of dialysis, it would require him to take additional time off for the transition and training, exceeding his left over PTO. Additionally, it could eventually require him to quit his job due to time constraints of treatment. This is devastating not only because of his passion for teaching and love of his students, but it would also cause him to lose his insurance. Josh’s doctors are highly specialized and work within a specific network. Losing this coverage would cause yet another layer of complexity to their lives.
A kidney transplant is the only true treatment for Josh’s disease. In recent weeks, we have gone from this being a very necessary next step to absolutely dire. We are hoping to spread awareness of this need to increase potential possible living donors to save his life.
We also understand being a donor is not for everyone and we appreciate any support during this time. Although Taylor and Josh are both working full time at the moment, unplanned illness and *hopefully* a kidney transplant would require extensive time off for both Taylor and Josh. This amount of time off would exeed the PTO that both of them have, requiring them to use State Paid Medical. While this would provide some income, it would be a drastic cut from their current income, at a time when their medical bills and other financial needs would be increasing. I am hoping to help ease the financial burden that this disease, the unavoidable side effects, and even the hopeful treatment is putting on Taylor and Josh. Any funds raised here will go directly to their extreme growing medical costs.
We also appreciate any sharing of social media to raise awareness for a potential living kidney donor, as well as prayers for healing and finding a donor.
Thank you,
Jordan
Follow Josh’s story on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshskidneyjourney/
Or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshskidneyjouney
***This page also has contact information for Taylor and Josh if you have questions about donation***
To learn more about kidney disease: https://www.kidney.org/kidney-basics
To learn more about being a possible donor: https://www.kidney.org/transplantation
To interested in being a donor: please contact Taylor and Josh through the “Josh’s Kidney Search” Facebook page
Hi everyone,
I am starting this gofundme for my new to the family brother-in-law and sister as they face the challenging search to find him a kidney donor. I am hoping this will relieve some of the financial pressure of weekly medical appointments, tests, baskets full of prescriptions and adhoc hospitalizations.
First, I think it’s important for everyone to know that Josh is fighting a genetic kidney disease. This is not something that has been brought on by complications of COVID-19 or diabetes but something that was completely out of his control. At the age of 9, Josh was rushed to the hospital and near death before being diagnosed with Step induced Membranoproliferative Glomerulonephritis (where the immune system attacks the kidneys), leading to IgA Nephropathy. Since then, he has been navigating doctors appointments and lifestyle changes to try to manage his kidney failure.
Unfortunately, in March 2020, at 27 years old and immunocompromised in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Josh’s kidneys had declined enough to require peritoneal dialysis (PD). He was able to get set-up with at-home PD dialysis, which allowed him to maintain his full-time job at a school in Newcastle, WA while also attending school for his teaching certification. While many people are aware that dialysis allows those with kidney failure to live, what people don’t know, is that toxins are continually building up in his body all day until dialysis takes place at night - a body with fully functioning kidneys are able to filter these toxins all day. As toxins build, so does the feeling of fatigue and illness which interferes with maintaining daily activities. Nightly dialysis means that Josh has to be hooked to a machine 8-9 hours a night meaning he has to calculate exactly what time he needs to be in bed and hooked up based on what time he has to wake-up for his day – and sometimes that means he has to leave family dinners early, miss evening outings with friends and forego evening events like Jazz concerts or playing in a band that he had previously enjoyed. And dialysis doesn't just affect his daily life but prevents him from partaking in activities he previously enjoyed, like swimming in the summer because the dialysis port is a direct opening to the inside of his body so any pool, lake or ocean water could cause an infection.
Despite being tired, sick and dealing with side effects of PD, like wildly swollen limbs, Josh has been determined to maintain as much of a normal life as he can, whether that’s chasing his passion for photography, expanding his skills at agility and dog training with their dog, Angel, teaching Math to his students, or pursuing his Masters in education. He's so full of life but his body is shutting him down.
In October 2021, a simple seasonal sinus infection turned into a bout of pneumonia after his immune system wouldn’t respond to antibiotics. This landed him in the hospital for 4 days with fluid around his lungs and his heart. After being pumped with fluids and antibiotics at the hospital, he was allowed to go home. But, note, his doctors did not allow him to immediately go back to work as he was still too weak and the risk of further germ exposure was too great. This caused him to use up all but about 4 days of his PTO for the entire year.
On November 11, 2021, Josh learned that this last round of pneumonia had taken any last small amount of function from his kidneys. This means that after a year and a half of PD dialysis, it is no longer working to remove toxins from his body. While Josh and his team of doctors are trying one last ditch effort with the amount of dialysis he’s on (ie. pumping more fluids into his body for a longer period of time to try to remove toxins), the next major step to keep him alive is to move to dialysis of the blood, hemodialysis. This is required because despite PD, there continues to be a large build up of toxins that is making its way into his bloodstream.
Hemodialysis is an intense and time-consuming form of dialysis. If Josh needed to switch to this form of dialysis, it would require him to take additional time off for the transition and training, exceeding his left over PTO. Additionally, it could eventually require him to quit his job due to time constraints of treatment. This is devastating not only because of his passion for teaching and love of his students, but it would also cause him to lose his insurance. Josh’s doctors are highly specialized and work within a specific network. Losing this coverage would cause yet another layer of complexity to their lives.
A kidney transplant is the only true treatment for Josh’s disease. In recent weeks, we have gone from this being a very necessary next step to absolutely dire. We are hoping to spread awareness of this need to increase potential possible living donors to save his life.
We also understand being a donor is not for everyone and we appreciate any support during this time. Although Taylor and Josh are both working full time at the moment, unplanned illness and *hopefully* a kidney transplant would require extensive time off for both Taylor and Josh. This amount of time off would exeed the PTO that both of them have, requiring them to use State Paid Medical. While this would provide some income, it would be a drastic cut from their current income, at a time when their medical bills and other financial needs would be increasing. I am hoping to help ease the financial burden that this disease, the unavoidable side effects, and even the hopeful treatment is putting on Taylor and Josh. Any funds raised here will go directly to their extreme growing medical costs.
We also appreciate any sharing of social media to raise awareness for a potential living kidney donor, as well as prayers for healing and finding a donor.
Thank you,
Jordan
Follow Josh’s story on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshskidneyjourney/
Or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshskidneyjouney
***This page also has contact information for Taylor and Josh if you have questions about donation***
To learn more about kidney disease: https://www.kidney.org/kidney-basics
To learn more about being a possible donor: https://www.kidney.org/transplantation
To interested in being a donor: please contact Taylor and Josh through the “Josh’s Kidney Search” Facebook page
Organizer and beneficiary
Jordan MacKelvie
Organizer
Seattle, WA
Taylor Walker
Beneficiary