My Sister, Ashley Rodriguez, the Lupus WARRIOR!

Hello! My name is Amie Gray and I am raising money for my "little sister" Ashley (Gordon) Rodriguez to help support her and her husband with her medical bills during this challenging season of their lives, as she continues the fight against lupus that is attacking her body. Here is a picture of my beautiful sister and her husband so I put a picture to the story I want to share with you as I seek help for them during this time.

Ashley was diagnosed with systemic lupus and rheumatoid arthritis when she was just 16 years old and has been fighting the battle against lupus most of her life, dealing with constant pain as her body is attacking itself with this inflammatory disease that results in the immune system attacking its tissues. She's in pain often, especially during flare-ups, as her body tries to fight off this disease. This diagnosis impacted her daily life at that time and continues to impact her life in a major way today, BUT she always looks for the positive side of things, keeps her faith in God, and is believing in a miracle!

She has been in the hospital more than ten times since her diagnosis and her life has been impacted in so many ways. When she was 22 she had a mini-stroke and her kidney function declined so rapidly that she started the process of getting on the kidney transplant list. As a part of this process, she went to a full day-long appointment, where she and her husband met with a panel of doctors on site and she then had multiple off-site appointments to see if she was "healthy enough" to get the transplant. That one day alone cost her $3,200 and she is still paying that bill today, even though a year has almost passed and she is going to her yearly check-in appointment next month to do the process all over again. She is not officially on the list because it took a year to get approved and to finish all of the tests and examinations.

About a year ago Ashley had an ablation surgery and had to do weekly iron infusions for a month to combat extreme anemia that was draining her, and she is still paying $1,400 for those treatments and doctor's bills. She also sees a nephrologist once a month and has $200 outstanding bill to that office, as well as sees a rheumatologist every two months which costs her about $200 each visit. Ashley also has to do labs every month which add up to $80-$200 per month and are necessary to stay on top of her health.

In June she had a catheter inserted into her stomach so that she could start at home dialysis. She was told that it would be an easy recovery but that was not the case; she was confined to her bed, could not go the restroom without her husband's help, could not lift anything over 5 pounds, and was hurting daily. She started dialysis two weeks later and they had to go to a clinic for a week to be trained on how to do home dialysis manually, and with the aid of a machine. The first month of dialysis was done manually with an IV pole and bags and the machine caused so much pain on her stomach as she had to start treatment quickly after her surgery because her symptoms were so bad.

For a month they did an exchange of fluid in and out of her body four times a day, taking a total of 16 hours a day which pretty much consumed their lives as they were willing to try anything to save her life. Then after a month, she was able to start doing nightly dialysis which seemed better than the first round, but the drain sequences were so painful that they woke her up and she felt like someone was literally stabbing her. She tried to set an alarm so that every 1 hour and 45 minutes she would wake up and do different movements or squeeze the catheter tubing to try and ease the intense suction pain, but then she was waking up so exhausted emotionally and physically each day, that system was not the best for them either. All this time her husband supporting her every step of the way, night and day, with every treatment and appointment. She now acts like "dialysis is her job" with a daily routine with her husband, their morning cup of coffee, and then the process of setting up the machine, hooking her up to start her daily dialysis, taking about 9 hours a day for the drain sequence to be complete.

Her husband Andy is truly a gift from God in her life. He has of course been impacted by this and wants to support Ashley in every step of this journey, which requires a lot of time with all of her tests, appointments, and her daily treatment. He recently had to quit his full-time job because his employer was getting frustrated with him having to leave early or come in late, or even take off a day when Ashley was in extreme pain to support her. He is now doing freelance jobs during this season so he can be there for her.

Ashley is currently waiting to be approved for social security disability, which once that kicks in will help with some of her medical bills, but she was declined Medicare/Medicaid and services to help with utilities and food needs so they have had to go into their little bit of savings account to cover housing and food costs. She is currently only paying the minimum on all of her medical bills and that is causing them to pile up higher and higher each month, adding to the stress she is already having facing these health challenges. Plus she is having to find her insurance because her current policy from her previous employer is about to run out and that will add expense to their already stretched financial situation.

A blessing is that she was recently added to the Duke University transplant list for B+ kidney and we are praying for a match and trusting God for His provision while she is waiting.

Ashley is not one to ask for help and I know she and her husband are doing the best that they can with what they are walking through. The stress that this is adding to her life is also taking an impact on her health and we are asking for any support, any donation, that you can make at this time to help them during this season.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, to hear about her story, and I hope that we can support her in any way possible. If you cannot donate financially, sending prayers for God's healing power and for a match for her to get a new kidney are appreciated!

God bless and thank you for your support and your prayers for my sister Ashley.

Here are some pictures of my beautiful, strong, brave sister! I love her so much and we pray God heals her completely so that she can enjoy a full, healthy, beautiful life with her husband and their two doggies!

WE LOVE YOU SISTER and Auntie!