This handsome guy right here is my best friend, my husband, Kevin Kassel, and he needs a kidney transplant to save his life. He is the father of 3 beautiful girls ages 17, 9, and 7. He is a son, a grandson, a brother, and an uncle. You may know him as the current Youth Pastor of Lake Almanor Community Church, a Celebrate Recovery leader, a math teacher, an Awana leader, a t-ball or soccer coach, a neighbor, or you may not know him at all. If you don’t know him, I’d like to tell you a little bit about him.

Our home is in Clear Creek near beautiful Lake Almanor in Northern California. We have been beyond blessed over the last 11 years that we have been married. He loves our God fiercely, loves our family well, and does anything and everything that is asked of him. He provides us with everything that we need. He is an amazing husband, father, and friend. He has a great love for all the children in his youth program, at Awana, and the many kids he has coached. We love him more than we can ever express in words. We have been living the dream.

All that changed in July 2022 when our world came crashing down around us. After a long bout with shingles, Covid, and an upper respiratory infection, Kevin had a bad cough and severe rib/side pain when he would cough. After some convincing, I was able to get him to go to the ER to make sure he did not have pneumonia. We found out that he did not have pneumonia or a blood clot in the lung (which is common with Covid).

What he did have was Stage 4 kidney failure. As if this news wasn’t devastating enough, by the time we were able to get into a specialist in August of 2022, he had gone into Stage 5 kidney failure. There are no treatment options for Stage 5 kidney failure. The options are dialysis or a transplant to save his life.

After 8 months from his diagnosis of kidney failure, he finally had the need for dialysis. Because we live 80 miles away from a dialysis center, we were trained to do it at home during the night when he sleeps. This allowed Kevin to live somewhat of a normal life with his family and as the Youth Pastor at Church during the daylight hours.

We received a call from UC Davis in September of 2024 that there was the possibility of a kidney transplant in December! Kevin began to lose the weight he had gained and had the final tests he needed before transplant. December slipped into January and then a date was set to meet with doctors as the transplant was imminent.

That meeting was supposed to be on Monday, January 27, but then while on vacation with his family the week after Christmas in Southern California, he began experiencing severe, crippling pain in his lower back. After a brief stay at a small hospital where they gave him medications to lessen the pain, he was discharged and the family came back home to Lake Almanor. The pain worsened while he was resting at home. We followed up with his primary care who ordered an X-ray and CT which were negative. The doctor ordered an MRI, but after waiting 3 weeks for the authorization before we could even schedule, we decided we could no longer wait and we decided to drive 3 hours to the UC Davis Medical Center ER where he was eventually admitted on January 22nd. After a long, painful, sleepless night, tests were finally conducted and a diagnosis was given.

The tests revealed there was a severe infection in his blood and one of the discs in his lower back that was deteriorating his bone and causing nerves to be pinched. Immediate surgery was needed to remove the infected areas of his back along with antibiotics to stop the infection from spreading.

After the surgery, Kevin’s pain has persisted as he is still in the hospital at UC Davis. After five weeks of being bedridden, the doctors were hoping he would have improved so he would be able to start rehab. They are going to perform an MRI to determine the cause of the pain in the coming days.

At this point, we were planning on fundraising for Kevin’s kidney transplant. We are looking forward to the day when Kevin will have the transplant but first, we need to address the needs of the moment. God’s timing is perfect, and we know He will guide and provide for us during these faith-building trials.

As you can imagine, this has taken its toll on our family in so many ways. God has blessed us with a community and a church that have come alongside us to make sure our basic needs are being met. Financially, we have incurred many costs outside our family budget as we travel to Sacramento many times during the week to be with Kevin to keep him encouraged.

Your donations will help greatly with gas, food, medical expenses, and lodging which all add up quickly. We are reaching out to you for financial assistance in our time of need. We thank you for your generosity and prayers.