Lana Mrdutt Herzog needs help!
Donation protected
Lana's story..............
I have been dealing with medical issues since I was about 40. My condition started to get severe, and I had to leave my chosen career as a Licensed Professional Counselor. I worked a few jobs trying to find something I could do, ending up being a Home Health Worker, and a Certified Pharmacy Technician. My illness tended to be cyclic. When I made it through the tough times it would get better for awhile. My Nurse Practitioner was unable to determine the problem. A test for Lupus was negative. It was determined I had Depression and Anxiety.
In August 2015 I started to feel sicker again, and thought I was just starting another cycle. As it went on I noticed it was a little different. My co-workers convinced me to go to the doctor..... Again they told me nothing was wrong. I insisted they check for a Urinary Tract Infection. They did the lab tests and sent me home. A couple hours later I was told to get to the ER my kidneys had shut down. I was at Regions in St Paul for 10 days. They put in a catheter, started dialysis, and did a biopsy of my kidney. They found out I had Vasculitis or Wegener's disease an autoimmune disease that attacked my kidneys. Initially the doctor on call told me nothing could be done for my kidneys, and I should plan on dialysis until transplant. A few days later a new doctor tried a treatment, along with dialysis three times a week. In May of 2016 I was improved enough to go off dialysis. I still had to continue the maintenance medications, regular labs, and doctor appointments.
Then horrifyingly in August of 2016 our home burned down from an overheated work light. We lost everything! Since it was a trailer with additions, we were only allowed to carry so much insurance. The payout was only enough to cover the demolition, and to pay off the house loan. We have no money to rebuild. We are having a hard time getting a loan with me being on disabilty and not working, and Dave's lack of credit history. We are currently living in a camper. This can only be temporary due to permitting. Since living in the camper we have had a water leak, so we treated for mold. The furnace and washer dryer combo have all broken.
I wish that were the end of it.... but probably due to the stress my Vasculitis became active again and I had to start treatments again. One medication I have to take is extremely high doses of Prednisone which lowers your immune system. This is to get the disease to go into remission. I must stay in remission at least a year before having a kidney transplant to prevent an attack on the new kidney. In the last six months since my immunity has been lowered I've had a rash, leg and face swelling, and three infections....including being hospitalized for sepsis. 80 percent of people with low immunity who get sepsis die....for me it stopped the function of my kidneys. I'm scheduled for catheter surgery so I can start dialysis again.
Normally I would never ask for help,... but it just seems like a never ending battle. If anyone can help us even a little, it would get us through. We would be so thankful and grateful. If we get more then we need I would like to give to Kidney and Vasculitis research.
Organizer and beneficiary
Teresa Mrdutt Kalina
Organizer
Somerset, WI
Lana Herzog
Beneficiary
