Help Shannon Get a Life-Saving Kidney Transplant

I’m creating this GoFundMe on behalf of my husband, Shannon Paul Zumo. Shannon is 55 years old and has been a self-employed electrical contractor in Louisiana for over ten years. I myself have been a licensed massage therapist in Louisiana since 2011, I had a thriving business until 2016, when I was diagnosed with cancer. Then in 2019, I started having severe neurological problems. In 2023, I was ultimately diagnosed with a recurring brain tumor in the mastoid area and a CSF leak in the temporal lobe. I had a combined craniotomy and mastoidectomy on September 30, 2024. My symptoms have only increased since surgery, and now I need a brain shunt placement, as the CSF fluid is still building up and causing dizziness, vertigo, headaches with movement and severe visual problems, and hearing and memory issues. I have been very limited in how much work I can do due to my personal health issues.

Due to financial difficulties, Shannon and I didn't have health insurance in November 2023 when Shannon's health took a very bad turn. He was advised by my doctor to get health insurance with pre existing conditions covered ASAP. Thanks to marketplace we were able to get coverage for 2024.

In January 2024, he was referred to a nephrologist and pulmonary lung specialist. He was diagnosed with interstitial lung disease, asthma, and COPD. In February, his kidney biopsy results showed 90 % kidney scarring and fibrosis in both kidneys, and he was diagnosed with a rare chronic kidney disease—fibrillary glomerulonephritis. This condition leads to a rapid decline in health, becoming quickly fatal without medical intervention, dialysis three times a week, and ultimately a kidney transplant and post-transplant services.

In April 2024, he began to experience rapid decline and has not been able to work since then. I have also been very limited in how much I can work due to my personal health issues. Shannon has lost weight drastically—dropping down to 126 pounds in just over six months—and is on supplemental oxygen. He had six hospitalizations in 2024 (including on Thanksgiving and on Christmas Day). He also had six thoracentesis procedures to drain fluid build-up behind his lungs. Recently, he had a procedure to install a chest tube and sew his left lung to his chest wall. Despite this procedure, he still can’t breathe without supplemental oxygen. He is in constant pain and fluid overload, which has caused heart and lung failure, metabolic syndrome, and excessive vomiting. He has been on dialysis since April 2024. He needs two kidneys.

He is currently on the transplant list at Ochsner Medical Center New Orleans for a kidney, and he has a family member approved for the paired exchange transplant program, to help get the kidney he desperately needs ASAP. However, due to financial difficulties and high out-of-pocket medical costs, our savings have dwindled down and credit cards are reaching their limits. Subsequently we cannot afford the costs associated with paying for the procedure. We are anticipating the same expenses in 2025, plus travel and hotel expenses to the out-of-town transplant center, medical supplies, and additional living expenses for six months following the transplant (since he isn't allowed to work for six months following the transplant.)

We have created this GoFundMe page to help us reach out to family, friends, and kind strangers for any assistance or support they can give. Even sharing his story would be a huge help and would be greatly appreciated. We don’t know why this is happening now, but with God’s will and a little help from family and friends, we are confident we will get through this with God by our side and will be back doing things we love and working in no time.