Hiedi Artis

About 2 yrs ago, I met my “neighbor” at the dialysis center. He quickly became 1 of my closest friends; he’s one of the most caring, funniest, dependable & down to earth dudes I’ve met in my life. He always has a smile on his face, he checks on, & comes through for the people he cares about, not expecting anything in return. I’m sure if you know him, you already know this about him. Dialysis makes it so hard to plan for anything ; you never know how you’ll feel day to day. Making it next to impossible to hold a stable, full time job. So on top of constantly worrying about your health, & the future, there’s SO much financial stress. It’s something no one should have to face alone. He’s not far from qualifying for a transplant, but they make qualifying extremely hard. They’re very strict on weight limits; not taking into account ethnicity, body type muscle mass, etc. He’s lost a lot of weight, and continues pushing forward, but having a gym membership & the ability to afford a healthier diet would be helpful. And then of course, there’s rent, bills, car insurance, and the list goes on. . I’m asking anyone, whether you know him or not, to PLEASE share this with your friends and family, & if you’re in a position to do so, please consider donating; it doesn’t matter if it’s $2, $20, or $200. **EVERY SHARE & EVERY DONATION COUNTS!** If you’ve read this far, thank you so much!

I’m making a new GoFundMe because my situation has changed so much since last year, I’d like to clear up any confusion (I can’t edit the old one for some reason?) I’ve dealt with kidney issues since 2017 when I was hospitalized with a terrible infection from IV drug use. (On Nov 1, 2025 I celebrated 8 yrs of sobriety:) I was in the hospital for 4- 5 mnths. The infection moved into my spine, almost permanently paralyzing me. By this point I had gone septic; my heart & kidneys were failing. The rest of its mostly a blur. 2 of the things I’ll always remember is my family, 1by 1, coming in, teary eyed telling me how much they love me etc. They were told to say their goodbyes, because my chances were 50/50 & I was declining fast. Then there was my 9yo son, cuddling with me in my hospital bed holding my hand.. he still had that innocence about him. He looked at me with so much concern &asked, “mommy, are you gonna die?” I said no & prayed I wasn’t lying to him. I still think about the pain & worry on his little face. & what I put everyone through. I thought I was only hurting myself. But while trying to bury my pain & trauma from the abuse & disfunction I’ve endured most of my life, I was breaking my families hearts. When I finally got so tired of sulking & waiting to die, I got my ass on my walker (LMAO) & started pushing myself, it was hard&painful as hell to move my legs but I slowly improved. I was off dialysis within months .. I thought it was over. I was back in the gym, got a serving job, accomplished my dream of going to beauty school & getting a job @ a beautiful salon. I was back with my kids full time, finally got a house with a big back yard. Yrs later, something told me to get bloodwork. That’s when I found out, I had ESRD (I was in end stage kidney failure,) & had to start dialysis. II got a transplant 01/12/2025 it was unsuccessful. The kidney just never “woke up”. I’m on immunosuppressants so my body doesn’t reject the non-working kidney. When I was in just dialysis , I kept working; hairstylist by day, server by nigh.. It was hard, but I pushed through. But now, the combo of dialysis, & being on immunosuppressant drugs, my good&bad days are too unpredictable to hold a job & be reliable. I can also get sick so easy a cold could turn into pneumonia before I have a chance to get on antibiotics. It’s scary. So I’m on disability, at home praying for a2nd transplant, I’m on the list but my status is “paused” because my white blood cell count (the ones that fight infections, colds etc) is so low that surgery chance of infection is too high. As of today, this is all I know. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming People keep asking about how my oldest daughter fits into this. She doesn’t. I do mention her quite often when speaking about this, probably because these are the 2 hardest things I’ve been through in my entire life, although I’ve spoken briefly about her struggle. I was hesitant to say too much, because it’s just that, it’sHER struggle. But just like my kidneys, failing,it’s become all of our struggle.. She started struggling w/mental health issues in her mid teens & was diagnosed with BP. The symptoms quickly turned into something more ; within a few yrs she was diagnosed with schizophrenia, BP, ADHD & DID She got worse so rapidly, we had no time to prepare. We also had no idea how unavailable mental health care is. The person has to be willing to get treatment. Even if they say things like they can fly, have secret wings, & super powers, they’re violent against mom, dad, brother, sister & grandma. - I could fill this page with reasons she’s an immediate danger to herself& others. But try to tell that to the condescending police officer that’s here to “help” & gives me a lecture on “teens & young adults are hard” (because ofc that’s who they send, not a mental healthcare professional, but that’s a whole other rant.) I know that I did a terrible job at keeping people updated on my last fundraiser and I’m determined to do a better job with this one so expect an update in the next couple weeks or so thank you so much for reading and thank you to all the people who have so selflessly donated money to me both family, and strangers who I’ve never met. I appreciate you all so much more than you know, I wish I could hug each and every one of you❤️