Leigh is fighting Kidney Disease

At the age of 48, my husband, Leigh Jascourt, just didn’t feel right. He knows his body. He’s diligent in eating healthy, working out and is a Physical Therapist helping Geriatrics rehab in their home. December of 2016 he was told that both of his kidneys were failing. He was able to manage and keep pushing forward, but it was becoming more and more difficult just to get through the day. He was out of breath, exhausted and retaining fluid. He couldn’t manage any longer and a few months into 2017, he was put on peritoneal dialysis. He had to have a catheter inserted into his stomach and do a fluid exchange every night through the night. For some reason, this didn’t work for him. By the beginning of July 2017, Leigh was in full blown heart failure with his heart only functioning at about 20%. We thought we would lose him. He fought through and was switched over to Hemo Dialysis. Again, this couldn’t be easy or normal for him. Most people are put on a 3 day per week schedule. Not Leigh. For some reason, his body can’t rid itself of the toxins. He is having to run dialysis at home 6 days every week. He spends about 5 hours each time dealing with the set up, sitting in a chair cleaning his blood and then disconnecting only to start all over again. He is becoming weaker and we are doing everything we can to keep him out of the hospital.  2017 - he spent most of the year in the hospital between sepsis, MRSA, Respiratory Failure and a GI Bleed. All he could think about was getting out so he can work, have a purpose in life and support his family. He can no longer do that. We are praying a donor will come through before it is too late.  Leigh didn’t do anything to deserve this...they think “ a respiratory virus” is what caused it. 

So why are we now using Go Fund Me? We have no other options. Along with caring for the family and holding everyone together, I (Amy) works full time and has also started driving for Lyft and Uber in the few extra hours after work or weekends just to get a few extra dollars. We have 2  active growing kids. We have 2 years of medical bills, co payments, household bills to catch up on. Doctors kept telling him, don't worry, the companies will understand. Well..they don't. Collectors are calling and we are trying our hardest. We have had to prioritize where our money goes (roof over our heads, food on the table for our kids and gas in the car so I can work). We are so far in the hole that I can’t see how we can ever recover. We are good people who try to do the best for everyone and this is the hardest thing we have had to do. We HATE asking for help. I cried the entire time writing this and do every day thinking how did things go so bad so fast? I wouldn't wish this life on anyone. It not affects the person with the disease, but the entire family. We have been turned upside down.

Leigh is a Physical Therapist and his patients love him. He wants to get back to them and back to living. Being stuck in a room, in a chair with no where to go, alone for 5 hours a day is no life. We work (he did) hard for ourselves, but it just isn’t enough. We are so mentally, emotionally and physically drained and depressed just by this disease that it seems hopeless. We have such a long road ahead of us and if we could get caught up on medical bills, have help with rent and be able to function without feeling like failures, we just might be able to get through this. We have hit rock bottom and want to be positive, but it so hard to be positive when you are trying to find the next penny to add to your wallet.

Any help to help us get back on track and enable us to focus on healing is appreciated. We are so thankful for all those who have been supporting us and helping to share our story. I hope that some day the tables will be turned and we can help others get through this.

You can also find our page at: FB Page A Kidney For Leigh 

Thank you and God Bless