Support Paul and Shelby's Kidney Transplant Journey

My name is Shelby Brimmer and I am setting up this page on behalf of myself and Paul Martocci II.

If you know us, you know that about one year ago we found out that Paul's kidney disease progressed to stage 5 (end-stage renal failure) and he was going to need a kidney transplant. We immediately started the process of getting Paul approved to be on the deceased donor transplant list.

During the process we learned that Paul is young (just turned 50), healthy (except for the failing kidneys), a great transplant candidate, and that the average wait time on the transplant list at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center was around 9 years. Already at only 12% kidney function, we knew that he was not going to remain stable without dialysis for that long. Our goal became to find a living donor so that we could, if at all possible, avoid putting him through the physical and psychological strain of dialysis.

I began the process of being screened to donate, originally as an emergency/backup plan since I am his main support person and we own and operate a small business together. The challenges of both of us undergoing surgery at the same time only being considered as an "all else fails" option. Plus the odds of me being a match were very slim.

BUT the odds were in our favor! Just before Christmas we found out that Paul and I are a match and approved for direct donation. We originally planned for a surgery date at the end of April 2025, but after much deliberation, a final surgery date has been set for March 26th, 2025.

Our goal is to keep our business, Martocci's Restaurant, open during our recovery. Our staff and the business cannot afford to be closed for the amount of time it is going to take for us to be fit and able to come back to work. However, we will be operating limited hours and entering "mud season" in Vermont when business historically slows. To make things work financially we anticipate we will be unable to rely on our business for income for 2-3 months. We also do not have short-term disability or PTO as small business owners. Nor are we eligible for other supports such as unemployment (for either of us) or disability (for Paul).

To help prepare us for surgery and recovery with as little added stress as possible we are asking for your support. This feels weird to do and I have talked myself in and out of it at least a dozen times. But I truly believe, that if we can get some support covering our cost of living expenses during this time it will allow us to recover more efficiently and allow us to focus our energy on steering the business and our family through this time with hope and an eye toward the future.

We have committed the last two and half years to creating a warm welcoming storefront in Downtown Brattleboro and do not want all that hard work to be for nothing if we cannot provide for ourselves and protect our business from our personal challenges during this time.

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to our story and thank you in advance if you choose to donate. And if you do not choose to donate, we also completely understand. I have donated to GoFundMe campaigns throughout the years, but there have also been times when I felt pulled to donate but I was not in a financial position to do so. Time's are hard and you should take care of yourself first, please do not donate if it will compromise your ability to take care of you and yours!