A kidney transplant is needed for Mar to live

My name is Victorino Franco, married to Marina Franco for 51 years, both retired and living in Hayward, CA. I do a lot of volunteer work (volunteering 5 days a week at the Oakland International Airport for the past fifteen years and also for the Hayward Police Department ). Marina and I volunteer to go to the food bank every Friday to be able to give the food to the widow of my close friend who died a year ago (she's afraid to go out of the house since the pandemic) and when the food bank gives for two families I give half to my friend who works

for a supermarket earning minimum wage. I have supported many marginalized people back in my home country because I feel that God has been good to me and my family and this is the way to acknowledge His goodness and kindness.

I met Mar Baron and his wife Aggie Macaya-Baron ramdomly during a visit to Manila about nine years ago while their band Moonchild was performing at a small local pub. My love for music got me to this non descript place and I saw how well both of them play the guitar. Mar was playing a five string bass guitar while Aggie was playing the rhythm and singing at the same time. They have been my friends eversince. I have also noticed how much they love one another and quite inseparable.

I can totally relate the Mar's situation because it comes very close to us and our family. Our eldest son suffered from the same kidney ailment and had a transplant. One of his twin sisters donated one of her kidneys.

I will have Mar tell their story-- (As translated by Google Translate)

I am Marcelo Baron, A musician and dialysis patient for almost 13 years and I would like to share my journey with Aggie who is my wife and bandmate that despite being a musician I am facing a serious illness Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).

Our acquaintance started in grade 5 in 1995 when Aggie and I became seatmates so we became close, agreed on many things like music, we often talked about the same favorite band Eraserheads and during those times I got sick from time to time. , I'm getting an infection in my throat which is another sign that kidney damage is starting. Fast forward to high school, when Aggie and I became especially close because we thought of forming a band, in the beginning original compositions and some covers, at the same time our love for each other also blossomed, and despite that My symptoms of kidney disease increased. In college, due to financial difficulties, I was forced to focus on the band and Aggie, for the same reason, was forced to work in fast food chains. At these points we became more and more in need of each other so we decided to get together and work together on things, we did not notice that my medical condition was getting worse. Due to the scarcity we did not care and continued. just working, Aggie was lucky to be able to work in a BPO company and then I even felt that I was forced to emigrate to Korea as a musician. I played there for a year regardless of the fatigue and hardship and I further neglected my health. In 2009 when I came home to the Philippines, Aggie noticed a big change in my body so we thought of checking up and we didn't expect that I would need to have dialysis. Since then, my dialysis has been directed. that I have already started work up on the transplant and due to the extreme difficulty of my financial situation and condition of my body due to the adjustment of my body to dialysis we are sending back to the hospital. Even if we want to start work on kidney transplant we can't start. It was one of the stages of my life that seemed dark and hopeless because I was on dialysis 3 times a week, and during these times I was so depressed since I was no longer able to move and my body was very weak but despite that Aggie never left my side and she always helped me always showing her true love for for me, always telling me to be strong and with God's mercy and help I gradually recovered and got used to managing my condition as a dialysis patient and at these points I was gradually able to return to playing but I had to be accompanied by Aggie because of my condition and eventually we decided to reunite the band so that we could both earn and be together and not separate at the same time. Although my frequent hospitalizations have been reduced, Aggie and I felt that this was not a long term solution for a CKD patient, and that a kidney transplant would still provide a better quality of life, so in 2016 the work up began and thank God my youngest sister Irene Baron is willing to donate her kidney. Like dialysis we also experienced difficulties and ups and downs in pursuing work up because the length of my dialysis affected my liver, bladder ( Nakuha po nya yung sa hepa C dahil sa contamination ng blood lines sa dialysis.. May center po kasi kami dati na pinag dialysis na mejo sub standard ang process nila palagay namin dun nya po nakuha.. Nag rere-use po sila ng bloodlines which is hindi po ginagawa sa karamihang centers na napuntahan po namin

dapat daw po disposable at di na gamitin ulit) -- translation " I got my liver disease because of dirty non-disposable tubes and needles that one dialysis center used"., and my bone deterioration is causing the slowing down of our work up process. Although we are under social service, we still can't afford to save because of the continuous dialysis expenses. We need to be able to save 500k to ensure 1st quarter post medication. And now 2020 has reached a pandemic. As musicians, we were one of the first to lose our jobs, so we worked hard to crawl and sometimes beg to be able to afford my transplant. We do everything we can to raise funds, one of which is fundraising in the form of tshirt selling, cooking in our very small kitchen and selling/distributing door to door to people who like them. Although we are going through very hard times, we hope that you have good hearts that will be the instrument to continue my transplant. Until the end I will not give up and will continue to fight until we achieve my kidney transplant.