Let’s Lend Josh a Hand

My name is Kevin MacLeod and I want to introduce you to my older brother, Joshua (Josh), and his family, who so need our help. Josh, 47 - and his wife Tammy have made their home in the close-knit community of Mount Uniacke, near Halifax, Nova Scotia, all their married life, raising their two boys, Kameron 20 and Logan 14. Josh and Tammy are well known and loved in the community, friends to all who know them, quick to lend a hand, always with a smile, always good for a laugh. Josh is a customer service representative and Tammy works in food services. Sounds like a pretty normal family, right? But that is where normal ends for them.

For over the past two years, Josh has been fighting for his life, which is hanging by a thread. You see, Josh is in renal failure, getting by on dialysis four times a week, unable to work, while we are all hoping and praying for a kidney transplant. And in consequence, Josh and Tammy are also fighting to keep the family afloat financially, which as you can no doubt imagine, is also hanging by a thread.

Which is why I am starting this Gofundme page to raise funds for Josh and his family. My hope is that through your generosity, we are able to deepen the family’s financial “bench strength “ by $60,000 - pardon the hockey metaphor, we’re Canadian, eh. This will help them fight through their immediate crisis and until Josh is hopefully able to get a new kidney. Our donations would make up about half of Josh’s lost wages and the additional expenses he is - and will be - incurring through this journey. I know that our help would make such a big difference for the family, helping reduce one of their big anxieties, helping put the focus where I know they would like it to be - on Josh’s health and future recovery.

But let me also give you a little of Josh’s backstory. Why? Well, Josh’s current health crisis is only the latest in a life-long journey that is heartbreaking in the many obstacles he has been presented with, but also inspiring in how he has overcome so far.

Josh was born with a condition called dysplastic kidneys, which unfortunately, was not diagnosed until just before his 10th birthday. Our Mom and Dad were given the gut-wrenching news that he only had one-third of one kidney remaining and he would eventually need a kidney transplant. This took place at the age of 23 when our Dad, Donnie - who was a 50% match donated one of his kidneys.

Things went fairly well over the ensuing years. However, due to all the required anti-rejection drugs, Josh developed osteoporosis. This subsequently caused his hips to collapse. He had donor bone graphs on both hips. One was a success but the other hip required a hip replacement in 2005.

As fate would have it, Josh’s immune system built up antibodies to a protein in our Dad’s blood, so his body was constantly trying to reject his transplanted kidney. This finally happened in 2020 - and the start of the latest crisis. And of course, this has been happening in the midst of the COVID pandemic with our health system under enormous stress.

Josh was immediately prepped for home dialysis by having an operation to insert a catheter in his abdomen, while the search for a new kidney could proceed. However, as fate would again have it, in a rare but possible risk, the catheter ended up wrapping around his appendix, thereby causing a serious staph infection in his blood. Emergency surgery was performed to not only remove the catheter but also his appendix. A port was inserted in his neck in order for him to start dialysis, but with treatments to occur in hospital rather than at home.

On to the search for a new kidney. As I was a close match at 95%, I immediately started testing to be a donor. We were devastated to learn that this option was quickly ruled out as it was discovered that I have the same protein in my blood as does Dad - which was why Josh’s body rejected his first transplant.

So, beginning in October 2020, our Mom, Elaine, who is not a match, started testing to go into the “Kidney Paired Donor” program. This would mean she would donate a kidney to someone who in turn would have a donor match for Josh. But just as she was finishing her testing, Josh got more bad news.

In February 2021 he found out that an annoying lump on his lip was in fact cancer - a likely consequence of prolonged use of carcinogenic anti-rejection drugs. The surgical removal was a success. But, transplant protocol requires that the recipient be at least two years cancer free. This has been a real setback. The search for a kidney swap is now on hold until Josh clears protocol, while he continues in the meantime to get by through dialysis.

If only the story were to end there. His illness along with the drugs to treat his condition have caused lots of damage to his body. He is now hoping to have cataract surgery to improve his failing sight, surgery that is risky due to his high blood pressure and blood in his eye fluid resulting from renal failure. As I write this, we’re hoping that he can have surgery on one eye in the near future. I’ll keep you posted on progress.

Unquestionably, Josh has suffered immeasurably over the years due to his illness and would have every right to complain. But not Josh. He keeps trudging forward, with the love and support of his family and community.

I so hope that with your generosity, we are able to help deepen the family’s financial “bench strength “. Life can be unfair. But with our help, we can give Josh and his family that added support to help them fight through the financial consequences of the difficult hand they have been dealt, to see them through to the point where Josh - Tammy’s husband, Kameron and Logan’s father is recovered. Together, let’s lend a hand for Josh.