DeeJay's Kidney Transplant

WE HAVE A MATCH!!

My brother-in-law, DeeJay is a 23-year-old husband and father of three beautiful kids. On June 12th of this year, he was diagnosed with End Stage Kidney Failure (ESRD), and his kidneys only function at 5%. This news came back as a surprise to Alexi and DeeJay since he wasn't exhibiting many symptoms at the time and seemed very healthy. Soon after his diagnosis, DeeJay began nightly home dialysis and was added to the transplant list with the hopes he would find a donor quickly. The average waitlist for DeeJay's blood type (O+) to receive a kidney is four years.

Since June, their lives have changed drastically and have been filled with doctors' appointments, many trips to the hospital, scans, blood work, and several daily medications, which have limited time and activities with the kids.

The University of Utah Transplant Team explained to DeeJay that because of his age, a living donor would be the best option for him to continue to live a fulfilled life. Alexi and DeeJay felt a tremendous outpouring of love when they discovered that over 20 people had applied to be tested as a living donor.

His wife, Alexi, applied to be a living donor knowing she and DeeJay had the same blood type. In August, Alexi received a call that they would start the living donor testing process with her. They tried not to get their hopes up because the odds of someone being a match for their spouse is roughly 1 in 100,000. This is because to be a match, blood type, tissue type and overall health need to align nearly perfectly. On October 6th, the shocking and most incredible news came that Alexi was a perfect match for her high school sweetheart, DeeJay.

The transplant surgery has been scheduled to take place on November 4th at the University of Utah Hospital.... 3 weeks away!!! While they feel incredibly blessed for things to have aligned this way, reality's stress can often be overwhelming. Alexi and DeeJay will be out of work for 6+ weeks into the New Year. As part of their recovery, neither of them will be able to hold their three children (4-year-old Indi and 18-month-old identical twins, Ikaika and Kaimana) for several weeks.

The average kidney transplant cost is over half a million dollars. Luckily, they have insurance, but the cost of medical bills are piling up quickly, and soon they will both be out of work while recovering. We have made this GoFundMe help ease the financial stress that inevitably comes with this process. If you feel inclined to contribute to this cause, you can donate here or Venmo Alexi at @Alexitoilolo.

All proceeds will go to medical bills and life expenses arising over the next few months until Alexi and DeeJay are cleared to return to work.