Help Tommy Castillo!!2152

Originally Posted by JCage
Is there a go fund me page ?

Originally Posted by conditionfreak
Quote:

Originally Posted by Watcher
Sorry to hear this..we are going through the same thing with my father in law...who just keeps smiling and saying he's great . every time he gets to the top of the list, they find a reason to remove him . I'd be surprised if he lasts another 3 months. I'd be happy to send in a little something..it's a very frustrating thing to watch...tell him we're thinking about him ..

I am on "the list" for a kidney. I have nineteen months on it, but for my particular blood type (0+), the average wait is approximately 4 years.

And they don't go by position on the list. They go by tissue and blood typing. If yours matches a donated kidney better than anyone else's, then you get it. But they do take into account other things like age, weight and other health concerns. Once they call you, you have three hours to get prepped for the operation. If you live far away, you are up a creek without a paddle. I am an hour and 35 minutes away from the hospital where it would be done (at Ohio State University Hospital). I have the money, but you can't buy kidneys. They have to approve you thru various tests. Everything from eye health to colonoscopy, etc., just to get on the list.

I don't expect to actually get a kidney, but at least I can hang my hat on hope.

They have exchange programs whereupon, if someone wants to donate a kidney to "you" but it doesn't match. They can give that donated kidney to whomever it matches, that might have someone wanting to donate a kidney for that person, but it doesn't match them.

It costs about $145,000.00 for the operation. That covers both the donor and the recipient. Then you have to take meds forever, that lower your immune system. Which can cause you to get sick with colds and flu often. My insurance company is EAGER for me to get a kidney. It costs them more to supply me with dialysis every day, than an operation would cost them.

A donated kidney might last one year or twenty years. Some people go through two or three kidney transplants.

One kidney is perfectly healthy to live on, if someone is fairly healthy and is not diabetic or has chronic high blood pressure. Those are the two big destroyers of kidneys.

It's complicated, and slow, unless a relative is donating a kidney. I had a cousin who was 50 and got a kidney from his sister. It only lasted four months, and he died of a heart attack after. He was really big though.

Originally Posted by Tommy Castillo
Life can turn on a dime. That’s what I wrote when I found out I needed fifteen thousand dollars to get a life saving surgery. At the time I never could have imagined what would happen. People from every corner of the earth came forth and donated and that alone was a miracle, but at one point the donations slowed down and we became worried. Not Sammy, she just smiled and kept me brave. She has a strength I have never known. So when things seemed bleak we received a phone call while I was Live streaming. Sammy took the call then came and sat down to continue running the twitch as I danced around like a talking art monkey.

Now, I have been working for an awesome company named Wyrd games and the owner is an amazing man named Nathan. So when we were done live streaming Sammy sat me down and told me this:
Nathan had told her he would do special promotional event where whatever people donated to our fundraiser they would get that same amount as a gift certificate to the Wyrd online store. Now, that alone brought me to tears. But guess what? That wasn’t all. Nathan then told her, that if we don’t make the remaining amount; even if not a singe penny comes from this promo, on the following Monday (Aka. Yesterday) he would cover the entire remaining amount personally. I may not be a religious man, but the fact that my wife is a perfect match, and a man I have known for less then a year just saved my life - if those aren’t miracles I don’t know what could be.

I called Nathan right after I found out and had no words I just cried and said thank you. I also told him my hands where his till the day I die. He was true to his word the check showed up on Monday and we can now go to the transplant center and forward the approval process. So, I am not going to die any time soon and that feels so good. I need another fifty years with my Sammy.

Thank you all for your donations. We will be keeping up the fundraiser, just incase any one would like to further donate. The 15,000 is just the bare minimum needed to be approved for the transplant. Sammy and I will be out of action for 8-12 weeks, unable to work or do much of anything. So any and all further donations will go towards our savings to cover rent, utilities and food for that 12 week period.