Helping Aaron Alan fight Kidney Disease & FSGS

Hello,

My name is Charisma Sifferman and I'm a close friend of Aaron Alan and his wife Krystle, whom this GoFundMe is for. Before the inception of this GoFundMe, a close group of friends to Aaron and Krystle organized a private fundraiser to help them during these trying times. There was also generous help from close family and eventually a public virtual fundraising event that just passed. We have been overwhelmed by all the love and support as well as the willingness to give. The amount of outreach made it clear that it was time to bring our fundraising efforts to the next level.

As Aaron has so eloquently shared in a Facebook post, it’s been difficult for Aaron to go public with the news of his kidney disease/FSGS, and everything that has digressed over the last 3-4 years.

Aaron was diagnosed with kidney disease back in 2019. At the time, it seemed like it was livable, but over the next couple of years Aaron was then diagnosed with FSGS, which is a rare and pretty new diagnosis.

Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a rare type of kidney disease that causes scarring in the filters of the kidneys. FSGS can make it hard for the kidneys to filter waste, which can lead to kidney failure, also called end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) (Click here to learn more about FSGS).

The disease progressed very quickly and by the end of 2022, Aaron's kidneys had completely failed. Aaron's doctors prepared him that he would more than likely need a transplant, but the speed with which his kidneys deteriorated left Aaron and his family and friends in complete shock. In October of 2022, Aaron's doctor recommended that he start dialysis. Aaron was naturally terrified of that eventuality and decided to go vegan to reduce the amount of work on his kidneys. His efforts allowed him to stave off dialysis until April.

While all this was happening, Aaron had a very good friend who had offered to donate. This friend made it through the entire process but was unfortunately disqualified at the last minute due to his own medical complications. Later on, another donor came forward who was also denied for various reasons. Aaron and his friends and family are so thankful for the donors' willingness to go through the process only to be denied. Now with no viable donor, there was no other option but for Aaron to start dialysis.

Aaron is now in dialysis 3-4 days a week where treatments can last up to 5-hours. This means that he cannot work at full capacity as he did prior to this diagnosis and that leaves Aaron and his family financially short every month. Social Security disability benefits have proven to be difficult to navigate through and unfortunately will not even match what Aaron makes working at 50% of his effort.

Despite all the challenges and ups and downs throughout this experience, it has brought us (Aaron, et al.) so much awareness and a new depth of empathy for all chronic diseases. One in ten Americans (38 million) suffer from chronic kidney disease, and the numbers are similar around the world. Getting a transplant can currently be a very long and not very transparent process. The wait time for a deceased donor kidney is between 4-8 years.

We are asking for the following:

1) If any of you are interested in absolutely changing Aaron's life by donating your kidney or connecting us to a possible donor, please reach out to us immediately. Aaron is O negative blood type.

2) Cash donations to be used for Aaron's bills, gas, groceries, and any unforeseen medical costs. If we are lucky enough to get a donor who will be approved during this time, some of the funds will also be used to help cover their costs associated with the transplant surgery (ie., hotel/air bnb, airfare, rental car, gas, groceries).

Thank you all for reading and considering donating to our dearest Aaron. Much love from Aaron and Krystle.

Cheers,

Charisma Sifferman