Help Ben through Kidney Donation
Donation protected
In 2008, I woke up one morning feeling achey and when I went to the bathroom, it burned. That had never happened to me before, so I told my doctor. Three months later, I was diagnosed with IgA Nephropathy.
I was told to see the nephrologist (kidney doctor) every 3 months and they put me on some medications, and my numbers basically stayed the same for years. Until last winter.
As my numbers headed south, I did everything I could to stop the progression: I cut out wheat and sugar and was low-protein, I took all kinds of supplements to stay on track, Acupuncture, bodywork, soul work... and as much as I threw myselft into my healing work, the numbers continued to nosedive.
It was late June and I went to the nephrologist... she took a look at my numbers and told me (basically) to start dialysis immediately: I was in Stage 5 kidney failure.
A few days later, I checked myself into the ER. And now I am in a whole new chapter in my life:
Now I am praying for a kidney transplant.
For those of you who don't know, once you are in kidney failure: that's it, no more kidneys. They don't regenerate, like other tissues in the body. The only option is dialysis (or a kidney transplant).
For me, I have to do dialysis for three and a half hours at a time, three times per week. It's exhausting, both during and after. I am on a very restricted diet... I will spare you the details of all of my current symptoms... but trust me: not fun. A huge time and energy commitment and the end result: I still am in kidney failure, just not dead.
So a huge GOD BLESS DIALYSIS because it is keeping me alive, but there is nothing I want more than a new kidney so that I can see my family again for dinners and wake up refreshed in the mornings.
Both dialysis and the kidney transplant are expensive endeavors, both because of the time lost and the treatments themselves and the medications that I will take from here on out. The money raised from this campaign will hopefully cover all of these expenses.
If you are potentially interested in being a donor, please complete this survey:
http://mtsinai.donorscreen.org/
There is a ton of education that occurs before you make the final decision about donating, so if you have some interest, please complete the survey and get the process started.
Please read my whole story here:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/help-find-ben-a-kidney/how-it-is-that-i-have-kidney-failure-at-38/464203160598830/
For more on IgA Nephropathy:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/iga-nephropathy/home/ovc-20199316
https://igan.org/
I hope you read my whole story and get a sense of the lessons that I am learning from this experience.
In gratitude,
Ben
I was told to see the nephrologist (kidney doctor) every 3 months and they put me on some medications, and my numbers basically stayed the same for years. Until last winter.
As my numbers headed south, I did everything I could to stop the progression: I cut out wheat and sugar and was low-protein, I took all kinds of supplements to stay on track, Acupuncture, bodywork, soul work... and as much as I threw myselft into my healing work, the numbers continued to nosedive.
It was late June and I went to the nephrologist... she took a look at my numbers and told me (basically) to start dialysis immediately: I was in Stage 5 kidney failure.
A few days later, I checked myself into the ER. And now I am in a whole new chapter in my life:
Now I am praying for a kidney transplant.
For those of you who don't know, once you are in kidney failure: that's it, no more kidneys. They don't regenerate, like other tissues in the body. The only option is dialysis (or a kidney transplant).
For me, I have to do dialysis for three and a half hours at a time, three times per week. It's exhausting, both during and after. I am on a very restricted diet... I will spare you the details of all of my current symptoms... but trust me: not fun. A huge time and energy commitment and the end result: I still am in kidney failure, just not dead.
So a huge GOD BLESS DIALYSIS because it is keeping me alive, but there is nothing I want more than a new kidney so that I can see my family again for dinners and wake up refreshed in the mornings.
Both dialysis and the kidney transplant are expensive endeavors, both because of the time lost and the treatments themselves and the medications that I will take from here on out. The money raised from this campaign will hopefully cover all of these expenses.
If you are potentially interested in being a donor, please complete this survey:
http://mtsinai.donorscreen.org/
There is a ton of education that occurs before you make the final decision about donating, so if you have some interest, please complete the survey and get the process started.
Please read my whole story here:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/help-find-ben-a-kidney/how-it-is-that-i-have-kidney-failure-at-38/464203160598830/
For more on IgA Nephropathy:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/iga-nephropathy/home/ovc-20199316
https://igan.org/
I hope you read my whole story and get a sense of the lessons that I am learning from this experience.
In gratitude,
Ben
Organizer
Ben Fleisher
Organizer
Woodstock, NY
