Hello, my name is Michael Jeffrey Montgomery (aka Monty) and I'm raising money so that my BFF Roland can get a NEW KIDNEY and/or migrate to Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) at home. Roland has been a diabetic for about 20 years and also has high blood pressure. Supposedly these are the leading cause of Kidney disease. In early 2022 Roland was told that his Kidneys were starting to fail due to the many years he had been taking Metformin to treat his diabetes. Roland's kidney function rapidly declined throughout the year (chronic Kidney disease) and in mid-January 2023, he was told to go to the Hospital Emergency Room as he had become Anemic and all of his numbers looked bad. Sure enough, the folks in the ER confirmed Roland needed immediate Dialysis as he had End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). They installed a port in his chest and performed HemoDialysis. Once you have ESRD, there's no going back, you require Dialysis virtually every other day for the rest of your life and/or a new/donated Kidney.

Hemodialysis is generally performed 3 times a week and takes about 4 hours per session. After each Hemodialysis session, Roland is dizzy and has a bad headache and so his whole day is ruined. Plus, with the restrictive schedule, Roland CANNOT travel to see friends and family. Also, the dialysis center is usually filled with very sick patients 20 years older than Roland and we're fearful if there's another pandemic that Roland might catch something deadly from these other elderly patients. Also, Dialysis nurses are in short supply. With Hurricane season arriving in Florida, we fear that we may have to evacuate, just as Roland is due for a Dialysis session and do irreparable harm to what is left of his health or worse. This whole situation has Roland becoming increasingly depressed (and possibly suicidal). Everyone who knows Roland will testify that he goes non-stop and it's hard to get him to sit still for even 5 minutes. So, 3-4 hours attached to a Dialysis machine is incredibly hard for him. Lately, they've been denying Roland from getting Dialysis as his insurance will only cover 1 session a week and this is endangering his life and could easily lead to an early death. Roland can't even get on the transplant list unless he can show that there's money to pay for the anti-rejection drugs for the duration of his life.

Most people who meet Roland, later comment "he's the nicest person I ever met". He's always been very kind and generous with other people, so hopefully you can find it in your heart to help Roland.

Please help share/spread this post far and wide - that's just as important as a donation.

All money donated will be used to pay for either surgery to install a Peritoneal Catheter, Peritoneal Dialysis supplies/homecare, a new kidney or anti-rejection drugs. All donations will be greatly appreciated, no matter how small! If you're unable to donate, we equally appreciate it if you could share Roland's story with others who may be able to help in any small way. THANKS FOR ANYTHING YOU CAN DO TO HELP ROLAND!