Support Arwin's Journey with End stage Kidney Failure

This is for Arwin. My best friend. My Husband.

For those that don't know him, here's a brief introduction. Arwin is a genuine, down to earth, pop culture, movie loving, athletic guy. If there is a chance to do something active whether it's with someone, in a team or on his own, he will be there with bells and whistles on. You can ask his circle and they will attest to that

In his spare time, Arwin enjoys travelling, food exploration Dragon Ball Z and spending quality time with friends, families and his fur babies Conan, Lucian & Yoda. He always has time for anyone. If you need him and ask for help, he'll be there in a heartbeat.

Arwin is a quiet man and he doesn't talk enough about is his battle with End Stage Chronic Kidney Failure. Arwin in his prime, was young, fit with no health issues, and one day, out of the blue, he felt dizzy and collapsed. His health started spiralling and declining really fast, unexpectedly from the guy you would least expected from. His rapid spiral caused him to go through, muscle spasms, vertigo, gout, joint pains and inflammation. Through a multitude of doctors and tests, Arwin was then diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease.

For almost 10 years since 2014, we have been managing the disease quietly just between the two of us. We thought that everything was going well and Arwin was stable so there's no need to inform or alarm our family, until we got a call Christmas 2023. It's not the type of news that you would like to receive through the festive season, but the call advised us that Arwin's kidneys were failing him to no fault of his own and there's no time or options to repair.

This past 18 months have been hard, we have visited the hospital and GPs more than we've visited our loved ones and we've stayed at multiple hospitals longer than having a having a cup of coffee and quality conversations with each other. Our visitations and support from his Nephrologists, Surgeons and doctors are trying to prepare for Arwin's life on a machine or organ transplant to provide him a better chance and quality of life.

Arwin's life is in that limbo at the moment. We are told Arwin can't be on the transplant waiting list as he's not on the machine. However, he can't be on the machine because he's still fit, so we will have to wait for an available machine for him to be put into home care. The reason why he's fit? Arwin continues to battle with his 7% total kidney function by going to the gym, competing in Spartan Races and sporting events so he's mental and exterior physical health doesn't deteriorate as well. Our health system needs him to get worse, before he's given the chance to get better, unless we have the gift through a living donor.

Through the chaotic change in our lives, we have tried to make life as normal for Arwin and us as much as possible. We have changed our dreams of living a nomadic life to trying to settle into our new home most recently to prepare Arwin's life with home care. Arwin has never asked for help and humbly accepts life as it is with an always positive attitude, but with ongoing care, medicals, travels and a long list of expenses preparing him for his future, we need the help.

As we continue to have the hard conversation of looking for an organ donor, raising awareness of Kidney Disease and staying positive in hope to find Arwin the best second chance at life, we have to consider his future on dialysis or post transplant recovery, time off work, medical expenses and myself being his primary care giver, so we're reaching out for help to stay on top of our necessary expenses while we navigate through life together with End Stage Kidney Failure.

I'm scared. I don't know what to expect and what the future holds for us, but I want to help make sure that Arwin has options and taken care of as a priority. I want to be able to focus on helping him without stressing about all the other things in our life and not losing that too.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

We understand life can be tough and everyone could be going through something. All we can do is ask you to listen and share our story.

We sincerely appreciate any consideration and all donation(s) great and small. We encourage all of your support, thoughts, prayers and stories for others to read and be inspired

Life can take a turn without knowing. I hope Arwin and I can encourage you to look after yourself and take signs in your health seriously.

Enjoy life, you only have one. Life and time is precious, we tend to stress on the needless things and forget what matters to us most until it's gone

Look after one another, be kind to yourself and be kind to others.

~ Shell & Arwin