Love for the Herigstad family

Written by Clinton Herigstad:
"Hello, friends.
Some of you may know that I’ve been having rheumatic issues lately since about January, sore inflamed joints and whatnot. This attributed to me having to leave my previous job.
More recently I’ve been vomiting and not feeling well in general for the last month and a half. I’ve known I didn’t feel normal for a while and despite that and numerous doctor visits, it wasn’t taken as seriously until very recently when I went to a specialist who ordered a full metabolic panel.
Previous labs came back anemic, but the labs taken last Monday revealed I’m in stage four acute kidney failure. I was admitted to the ER Friday and have been at Munson Municipal since. I don’t know when I’ll get out yet, but chances are high that I will need dialysis and possibly a kidney transplant.
I’m hopeful and still relatively young enough to possibly recover. My kidney function is at a point that most people start dialysis and I will be starting tomorrow based on labs from today.
I urge everyone who experiences joint pain like tendonitis or arthritis that roams around your body and doesn’t go away, to demand a full metabolic panel for organ function. I had blood work done two times that didn’t even check my kidney function. The specialist I saw was a digestive specialist, not a kidney specialist, but he was thorough and saved my life. I still need to thank him personally for caring and calling me himself to tell me how sick I was and to go directly to the ER. If I wasn’t aware of this for another couple weeks the potassium build up that my kidneys weren’t filtering out, could have stopped my heart.
This is most likely caused by a very rare disease called Wanger’s disease that isn’t clear what causes it. We don’t know that for sure and are waiting on a biopsy result from the Mayo Clinic.
I’m not looking for sympathy, but thought some of you may want to know about what’s actually been going on. I didn’t see the need to keep this a secret. Also I wanted to warn people that sometimes your general care physician needs to be pushed to check for everything. I should have been more aggressive about it. I’ll probably post an update in the future as this event is going to takeover and change my life for some time, possibly forever.
I may have to cancel my trip to Washington, and most likely will have to cancel to be perfectly honest. My immune system needs to be partially shut down, leaving me susceptible to infections. Air travel could be very bad. This saddens me as I wanted nothing more than to visit friends and family in the good state of Washington.
I’m hopeful, and nervous, but I will do my best to keep my head up."

We are each a part of this beautiful family's tribe for a special reason. Together, let's show our support and help offset some of the financial burden that medical expenses can place on a young family. A little goes a long way, and a lot can make a large impact. Thank you in advance for any and all consideration. We are here for you Clinton and Lyndsey!