as most of you know I was diagnosed with end stage renal failure in May of 2015. It's now a year later, I was on dialysis just under a year and on April 11, 2016 , my sister Amy Chabot saved my life by donating one of her kidneys to me. It's now been 4 weeks and I'm feeling stronger every day. The Docotrstell me my sister gave me a "super kidney". Everything is going well, unfortunately SSDI barely covers my rent , let alone bills, anti rejection meds etc, so I started this t shirt campaign to raise some funds for these things until I can return to work in August/September .
All funds raised will go towards Anti rejection and immune suppressive medications
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Full story
From June 2015, written by my sister and donor , Amy Chabot:
At this point, most of you know Justin was feeling under the weather with "flu-like" Symptoms for about 3 weeks.
Last Sunday, he finally gave in and went to the ER at Rhode Island Hospital. Within an hour, they drew his blood and he was meeting with a Renal Specialist.
The Doctor told Justin Something was very wrong. The Waste Levels in his Kidneys, which should be at a 1-1.5 was at a 27, and they may have to do Emergency Dialysis.
Justin was admitted that night. After numerous tests, they gave us all the bad news. Justin was in End stage Renal disease, and to save his life, he would need to start
Immediate Diaysis, and would eventually need a kidney transplant.
We were in utter shock. How does this happen to a 34 year old? Who would give him a kidney? How long would he have to wait for a transplant?
Why we are still waiting for answers, the nephrologist let us know Justin has genetically small, thin kidneys and that along with undetected hypertension destroyed them quickly and silently. (His kidneys are functioning at 4%)
As we had a chance as a family to process all of this, Justin went in for a procedure to prepare him for Peritoneal Dialysis. A process where your kidneys are cleaned through a peritoneal catheter. This process will be done 4 times a day for 4-6 weeks and then Justin cn switch to Nightly Diaysis.
Justin has been having non stop dialysis for 3 days. He has to lay perfectly flat in bed, and is in so much pain from the catheter, the nausea, and from his kidneys failing. He said to me in confidence the other day "what am I going to do about my bills? My job? My apartment?"
I told him that should be the least of his worries.
While Justin will be eventually be able to collect TDI for the first month of Dialysis, it will not cover his entire income, and he already used all of his sick time while he was sick before his diagnosis.
Justin is a very humble man, and I know it would hurt his pride if he knew I was doing this, but all I can think about is what Justin does for a living... He helps others in need. And all the times he has helped my mother, or the times he has helped me.
When my house was flooded years ago, Justin spent an entire weekend helping us move all of our furniture out to a dumpster, or when I had my son, and he would come over and watch him so I could rest. He's a great brother, son and an amazing Uncle to Landon.
I am taking up a go fund me for Justin to help him stay above water while he heals, and to help pay for a few medical supplies he will have to get for all his dialysis equipment. Any donations are very much appreciated. I would love to say to him "your bills are covered for the next 6 weeks so you can focus on health and healing."
Thank you all so much for your texts, calls, and visits. Justin has such an amazing support team. I know in the years ahead he will have a new kidney, better health, and he will be able to say "I'm a survivor."
