HELP NEEDED:END STAGE KIDNEY DISEASE AT 41, 4 KIDS

Josh Bafia, 41 years old, has end stage kidney disease. He is unable to work full time.Josh and his wife Melissa have 4 children, ages 7-14.With the help of this GoFundMe campaign and a previous one, the family has made it through a horrifying past 4 years involving Josh falling ill, subsequently losing his job and therefore the family’s sole financial support, struggling for basic necessities, being threatened with homelessness, and finally being forced to go on SSDI and medical assistance to survive. It is doubtful the Bafias could have survived financially so far if it weren’t for the generous donations of their GoFundMe donors. The donations have helped the family to stay together, to continue living in their current home, and to cover various expenses which SSDI does not provide for. For this, both the Bafias and I have untold gratitude. An organization called the Knights for Life also provided some help for the family, by holding a fundraising event on January 31, 2020. The organization holds an event once per year, for “a person or family dealing with near-insurmountable circumstances and/or illness.” It was reported here:                                                                               https://northpennnow.com/knights-for-life-to-host-fundraiser-for-local-father-of-four-battling-ends-p2200-95.htmThe Bafias are now on a bit more stable footing than several years ago, but life is still not easy.Josh must go for dialysis three days per week for 4 hours at a time. Josh also has diabetes. Problems with his insulin pump and with an insurance denial for a replacement resulted in extremely high blood sugar levels recently, which resulted in several recent ER visits. A replacement part was finally obtained, and Josh’s blood sugar is now stable again. Josh’s has another condition, gastroparesis, which flares up randomly and results in periodic visits to the emergency room. This has occurred 3-4  times during the past 6 months.The Bafias have essentially no family support, emotional or otherwise, from either side of the family, for various reasons. Certainly no monetary support.After several years of effort to stabilize his health conditions, Josh has begun medical evaluation for the (hoped for) eventual transplant operation, at the Penn Transplant Institute. Many tests are involved, but the Bafias have high hopes that Josh will be approved for the operation. If so, he will be placed on the Transplant List to receive a kidney from a deceased donor.Josh is now engaging in a search for a living kidney donor. A kidney from a living donor lasts twice as long as a kidney from a deceased donor, is much less likely to be rejected, and avoids the 4-7 year average wait on the Transplant List. (There is significant doubt that Josh would live this long on dialysis.) If you or anyone you know would be willing to donate their spare kidney to save Josh’s life, please contact me, Sandy, the organizer of this campaign. Or register directly at the National Kidney Registry at kidneyregistry.org, specifying a “Voucher Donation” for intended recipient Joshua Bafia, born 8/6/1980, Transplant Center “University of Pennsylvania Hospital” .Note that since Josh is using a registry, ** the kidney donor does not need to match Josh’s blood type or match him in any other way, and the donor can live anywhere in the U.S.It will take quite some time for Josh to receive a kidney transplant, either from the Transplant List or from a living donor. In the meantime, the Bafias must continue to survive financially.Please help the Bafia family do this by donating to this campaign.Even small donations help. They build up. Every little bit helps. And just to see a donation come in, no matter the amount, raises Melissa’s and Josh’s spirits, knowing that people care. This is especially important given the lack of family support.(Note: You can make your donation anonymously if you want.)You can also help by telling your friends about this GoFundMe campaign on your social media sites. Campaigns with social media exposure are 3-5 times more successful (monetarily).Final note:My 30-year old son Greg died a few years ago. I am organizing this campaign in his memory.It helps me to know that something good, helping the Bafias with this campaign, may come from my son’s death.-Sandy Salveter