Lexy's Lifesaving Dialysis Treatment

For those of you that know me, you know it’s hard for me to ask for help when I need it but, well, here I am. A few weeks ago my body was…well…expelling blood for more than 14 days and I became extremely anemic to the point where I had to be brought to the hospital in an ambulance. I could barely walk or get out of my bed. I then had to be driven to a different hospital since the hospital I went to didn’t have enough blood to give me (apparently, hospitals in Mexico usually run pretty low on blood supply). The next thing I remember is being woken up by a team of doctors telling me my kidneys had officially given up-- the cocktail of being severely anemic, dehydrated and diabetic created quite a disaster for them. I was in something called Stage 5 kidney failure.

Stage 5 kidney failure, also known as end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is the most advanced and severe stage of chronic kidney disease (CKD). At this stage, the kidneys have lost nearly all of their ability to function, resulting in a critical decline in their ability to filter waste and excess fluids from the blood. Sooo, I was in such critical condition that I had a catheter put into my neck to start hemodialysis immediately.

With Stage 5 kidney failure, I now require kidney replacement therapy to survive. This usually involves either hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis to help remove waste and excess fluids from the body. The preferred long-term treatment is a kidney transplant, as it offers a better quality of life, but as a diabetic, I’m a lower priority for a donor; a live donor is my best bet at a new kidney, but even that could take quite a few years. So the plan for now, I guess, is dialysis three days a week for the foreseeable future.

While I'm waiting to get approved for disability or Medicaid, I’ve been paying for everything out of pocket here in Mexico and very quickly running low on funds. I also am trying to get back to the United States to be with my family and have access to better medical care-- a trip I can't afford to take right now. So, here I am asking for a little assistance to help tackle this new chapter of my life. There’s a long road ahead, but all I can do is be grateful that I’m still here and try to have the best quality of life I possibly can. I’d really appreciate any donation no matter how small. And if it makes you laugh…well…my feet are so swollen I can’t even see my ankles. Yay me!

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for any support you're able to give.

~ Lex