Mom of 2 needs a Kidney
Donation protected
Jessica Clifford was diagnosed with Fibrillary glomerulonephritis at the very young age of 32. She was a single mom raising two girls on her own. This very rare disease led Jessica to need dialysis 3 times a week, which cleans her blood and filters it back into her.
While driving to dialysis 3 times a week, Jessica also worked a full-time job and drove miles to different schools so her two girls could get the best education they could. She worked hard to make sure both of her girls did well in school, which led them both to be in all honors classes. One is enlisting in the Marines and the other is an extremely talented makeup artist.
Jessica has always been a very independent, strong-willed person who doesn't like to ask for help from anyone. Before being diagnosed, she was her mother's primary caretaker who unfortunately died from cancer.
Fast forward to December of 2013, Jessica suffered a level 5 brain aneurysm. She was rushed to the hospital where she spent two months in a coma. In the second month, the doctors told her daughters IF she woke up, her quality of life would be undeniably poor. They made the difficult decision to take her off of life support knowing Jessica would not want to have that kind of life. They were going to take her off life support that following Monday. Jessica woke up on her own that Sunday!
The following months were extremely rough with no income, but her amazing coworkers bonded together to raise money to help get her through until social security kicked in. This was difficult for Jessica because not only did she love her job, but she despised being dependent on anyone. She was medically forced to quit a job she loved for many years.
After coming home from the hospital, Jessica couldn't drive or be alone because she started having seizures after the aneurysm. Her wonderful coworkers and friends worked out a schedule to always have someone home with her and get her to dialysis 3 times a week.
Unfortunately, the money ran out and she was forced to leave her home. My family decided to move her and her youngest daughter in with us. Once her social security kicked in, we helped get her an apartment and a couple of us would make sure she had transportation to and from dialysis, the grocery store and doctor's appointmens.
Many of Jessica's friends have been tested to see if they're a match for a kidney. Unfortunately, no luck yet. We finally received GREAT news a couple of months ago. The Transplant center put her to the top of the transplant list!
The catch? Jessica has Medicare and Humana as a secondary. The American Kidney Foundation pays her secondary insurance because she is in complete kidney failure and has to have dialysis 3 times a week. The unfortunate part is, the second she gets the kidney she will no longer be a dialysis patient, so the American Kidney Foundation will not be paying for her secondary insurance, which is $517 a month.
Tampa General Transplant REQUIRES Jessica to have an entire year's worth of insurance premiums saved up in an account she cannot touch before she can have the transplant. This is to ensure she still has insurance after the transplant.
The extra amount asked for on the gofundme page is the 5% Gofundme charges for the fundraiser. I just wanted to clear everything up since I started the account without Jessica knowing because she would never ask anyone for $10 much less $6200.
When Jessica told me she has accepted the fact that she's not going to be an old lady, I knew I had to do something to help her. She cannot work to make the money or she would, in a heartbeat. Believe me when I say, Jessica would give anything to go back to work again. She has contemplated going back to work and losing social security just so she can make the money herself for her kidney. Going back to work with this stress on her body would be so detrimental to her health, it wouldn't be worth it.
Here we are in October and Jessica had a grand mal seizure while at dialysis. We thought she was not going to come out of this one okay. Miraculously, she's home and better! Unfortunately, the longer we wait to raise this money, the less time we have. I don't know how much more her body can take.
I witnessed this last seizure and decided it's time to do something. Something bigger than any of us. I want my best friend to see her daughters get married if that's what they choose. I want Jessica to be able to hold her future grandchildren. I want to grow old with her by my side and I'm tired of her telling me she'll never make it to be an old lady when I talk about the future. She doesn't complain about her life. She's just accepted that she's meant to die young. I cannot and will not accept that!
Jessica and I took over my daughter's girl scout troop this year. She's so absolutely amazing with the girls and with my children. Our girls need her! The girls make her so happy and she's making a difference in their lives.
It has taken me a while to create this gofundme account because we're both hard headed. We hate asking for help. I've known Jessica since the 7th grade and I'd give her my own heart if I could. Please help us help her get the kidney she so desperately needs to be around to be an old lady.
Thank you for reading and sharing. We could use all the help we can get. If you are unable to help, even sharing this link and her story would be appreciated.
I've included a little information on Jessica's disease. It's so rare, it was difficult to find much on it.
With love and gratitude,
~Alicia Sandage~
Fibrillary GN is a disease which affects the millions of filtering units that make up the kidney. These filtering units are called glomeruli. Each individual glomerulus is composed of multiple layers of straining material. In this condition, the body produces a large volume of unusual proteins.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glomerulonephritis
While driving to dialysis 3 times a week, Jessica also worked a full-time job and drove miles to different schools so her two girls could get the best education they could. She worked hard to make sure both of her girls did well in school, which led them both to be in all honors classes. One is enlisting in the Marines and the other is an extremely talented makeup artist.
Jessica has always been a very independent, strong-willed person who doesn't like to ask for help from anyone. Before being diagnosed, she was her mother's primary caretaker who unfortunately died from cancer.
Fast forward to December of 2013, Jessica suffered a level 5 brain aneurysm. She was rushed to the hospital where she spent two months in a coma. In the second month, the doctors told her daughters IF she woke up, her quality of life would be undeniably poor. They made the difficult decision to take her off of life support knowing Jessica would not want to have that kind of life. They were going to take her off life support that following Monday. Jessica woke up on her own that Sunday!
The following months were extremely rough with no income, but her amazing coworkers bonded together to raise money to help get her through until social security kicked in. This was difficult for Jessica because not only did she love her job, but she despised being dependent on anyone. She was medically forced to quit a job she loved for many years.
After coming home from the hospital, Jessica couldn't drive or be alone because she started having seizures after the aneurysm. Her wonderful coworkers and friends worked out a schedule to always have someone home with her and get her to dialysis 3 times a week.
Unfortunately, the money ran out and she was forced to leave her home. My family decided to move her and her youngest daughter in with us. Once her social security kicked in, we helped get her an apartment and a couple of us would make sure she had transportation to and from dialysis, the grocery store and doctor's appointmens.
Many of Jessica's friends have been tested to see if they're a match for a kidney. Unfortunately, no luck yet. We finally received GREAT news a couple of months ago. The Transplant center put her to the top of the transplant list!
The catch? Jessica has Medicare and Humana as a secondary. The American Kidney Foundation pays her secondary insurance because she is in complete kidney failure and has to have dialysis 3 times a week. The unfortunate part is, the second she gets the kidney she will no longer be a dialysis patient, so the American Kidney Foundation will not be paying for her secondary insurance, which is $517 a month.
Tampa General Transplant REQUIRES Jessica to have an entire year's worth of insurance premiums saved up in an account she cannot touch before she can have the transplant. This is to ensure she still has insurance after the transplant.
The extra amount asked for on the gofundme page is the 5% Gofundme charges for the fundraiser. I just wanted to clear everything up since I started the account without Jessica knowing because she would never ask anyone for $10 much less $6200.
When Jessica told me she has accepted the fact that she's not going to be an old lady, I knew I had to do something to help her. She cannot work to make the money or she would, in a heartbeat. Believe me when I say, Jessica would give anything to go back to work again. She has contemplated going back to work and losing social security just so she can make the money herself for her kidney. Going back to work with this stress on her body would be so detrimental to her health, it wouldn't be worth it.
Here we are in October and Jessica had a grand mal seizure while at dialysis. We thought she was not going to come out of this one okay. Miraculously, she's home and better! Unfortunately, the longer we wait to raise this money, the less time we have. I don't know how much more her body can take.
I witnessed this last seizure and decided it's time to do something. Something bigger than any of us. I want my best friend to see her daughters get married if that's what they choose. I want Jessica to be able to hold her future grandchildren. I want to grow old with her by my side and I'm tired of her telling me she'll never make it to be an old lady when I talk about the future. She doesn't complain about her life. She's just accepted that she's meant to die young. I cannot and will not accept that!
Jessica and I took over my daughter's girl scout troop this year. She's so absolutely amazing with the girls and with my children. Our girls need her! The girls make her so happy and she's making a difference in their lives.
It has taken me a while to create this gofundme account because we're both hard headed. We hate asking for help. I've known Jessica since the 7th grade and I'd give her my own heart if I could. Please help us help her get the kidney she so desperately needs to be around to be an old lady.
Thank you for reading and sharing. We could use all the help we can get. If you are unable to help, even sharing this link and her story would be appreciated.
I've included a little information on Jessica's disease. It's so rare, it was difficult to find much on it.
With love and gratitude,
~Alicia Sandage~
Fibrillary GN is a disease which affects the millions of filtering units that make up the kidney. These filtering units are called glomeruli. Each individual glomerulus is composed of multiple layers of straining material. In this condition, the body produces a large volume of unusual proteins.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glomerulonephritis
Organizer and beneficiary
Alicia Sandage
Organizer
Valrico, FL
Jessica Clifford
Beneficiary