Hi! My name is Xenia. I am blessed to be a single mother to an incredible 5-year-old boy. With a heavy heart, I am here to ask for your support in helping him stabilize and heal his body from Nephrotic Syndrome.

My 5-year-old son was diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome on May 7th,2024. Two weeks before being diagnosed, he was waking up with eyelid edema every morning. At first, the eyelid edema only lasted for a few hours before progressively lasting for the entirety of the day. The Doctors dismissed his symptoms as seasonal allergies at the beginning. The eyelid edema then developed into a swollen abdomen. Shocked by what I was seeing, I rushed him to the walk-in on May 7th where I was instructed to bring him to the ER as soon as possible. Numerous tests were conducted at the hospital including a urinealysis, blood work and X-rays. The Doctors concluded it was Nephrotic Syndrome that day and stated that X-rays showed that fluid had seeped into his entire body. He was prescribed 54mg of Prednisone to take a day. However, the day after taking Prednisone my son woke up with edema that had spread throughout his entire body and he could barely walk. He had gained almost 15lbs of fluid at that point. Spironolactone was then prescribed to Ezra to take with Prednisone for 7 days to reduce the generalized edema throughout his body. A week after his diagnosis my son started to see a Traditional Chinese Practitioner. Regrettably, we had to stop once we could no longer afford sessions soon after the Specialists told us my son was in remission.

It has been quite an emotional roller coaster and a shock to our family. I thank God he has been in such good spirits through it all. In this short period of time, he has gone into remission for 1.5 weeks before relapsing while on the same dose of Prednisone. His edema is gone, but he has developed high blood pressure and his protein levels have now escalated to an all-time high at 5+ (>3000mg/dl) 7 days after stopping the sessions with the TCP. For a random urine sample, normal values are typically 0 to 14 mg/dL.

Nephrotic syndrome is an extremely rare kidney disorder among children, affecting fewer than 5 in 100,000 children worldwide (NIDDK,2021).

It causes the body to expel too much protein in the urine. It's characterized by a group of symptoms, including proteinuria (excess protein in urine), hypoalbuminemia (low levels of protein in the blood), edema (swelling), and high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood (which raises the risk of heart problems).

The syndrome can be triggered by various underlying conditions, including:

The Specialists currently believe that the underlying cause is an autoimmune disorder attacking his kidneys. However, the Specialists are not 100% sure at this time.

Traditional treatment for nephrotic syndrome unfortunately does not take care of the underlying causes of this horrific disease. I am looking to raise $7000 to help my son see a Naturopathic Doctor and TCP to take care of the underlying issues in correlation with his current treatment. In seeing a Naturopathic Doctor and TCP in combination with the recommendations from his Neuropathy Specialist I hope that he can live a relatively normal childhood, doing all the activities he loves to do without much disruption, medical relapses, long periods at the hospital or limitations. With your help, I pray that he is amongst the percentage of children who outgrow this disease by the time he reaches his early teens. Any donation or support means the world to us; it's a message to Ezra that he has many people in his corner who love him.

How You Can Help:

Thank you all in advance. We love you all so much!