Izudin's Kidney Fight
Donation protected
This is our dad Izudin Elezovic and he needs a new kidney. It doesn’t feel real saying it, or even writing it. The man who has been there for us our entire life needs us now.
Our father has a disease called IgA Nephropathy. IgA nephropathy is an autoimmune disease that is caused by the person’s body harming the kidneys. We all have IgA antibodies in our bodies but it takes some kind of infection to trigger this kind of reaction. Our father’s nephrologist has come to the conclusion this reaction started when our dad was a child and got a severe kidney infection. This infection was so severe, that our father was in the hospital for about a month fighting it. He was able to finally go home since the doctors believed they had cured his kidney infection. They didn’t think to test for IgA back then.
Let’s fast forward to 2009. After a routine doctors visit, our dad’s primary doctor noticed his lab work came back abnormal. His creatinine levels were high, his potassium levels were also elevated and there was blood in his urine. Not knowing much about this kind of thing we didn’t think it was anything too serious. He would take some medicine the doctor would prescribe and he would be fine.
Elevated creatinine levels signifies that something is wrong with the kidneys. It means that the kidneys are not filtering the toxins that are in the body. These toxins then stay in the blood and the creatinine levels in the blood rise. These toxins that are so vital to leave the body, were building up in my father. Elevated potassium levels can have even worse effects on the human body. Human beings should only have a certain percent of potassium in their body and once it is elevated highly dangerous complications can arise. One of the biggest worries of high potassium is the effect it has on heart rhythm. What we did not know, was that IgA nephropathy was causing all of this.
What do we do now? How do we help our father? What is the next step to take? We are going to fight this, were not going to let his body fail him. Our father changed his diet; no more bananas, oranges or potatoes. He started taking daily medication to help with his kidney function, potassium and creatinine levels. He then started taking even more medication to combat the high blood pressure which also developed. He got biweekly lab testing and urine testing. We were hopeful! He made all of these changes so this must work. His kidneys won’t keep failing! They might not regain the function that was lost but we were going to fight any further failure.
In the fall of 2016, we received the news that our fathers labs were progressively getting worse. The medication, diet and routine lab work was not helping him anymore. He was losing the battle against IgA nephropathy and going into Kidney Failure. We had to accept the words “Your father is in kidney failure and needs either dialysis or a transplant to survive.”
Survival is key now. What is the next step to this? What can we do now that we hadn’t done before to help him? He underwent rigorous testing, a kidney biopsy and a whole new renal diet. The renal diet included everything he was doing before plus now he could not consume any more salt. He followed all of this and even went above and beyond. He cut out everything unhealthy, started exercising more, and even trying herbal remedies hoping something would help. In December of 2016, Izudin Elezovic was put on the United Network for Organ Sharing transplant list.
We were working hard on trying to find a living kidney donor so that we could avoid dialysis, unfortunately that did not happen. In May of 2017, he had a peritoneal catheter surgically implanted so that he could start dialysis. We were still searching for a kidney. My father’s transplant team decided that aggressive dialysis was necessary. This meant that not only does he have to do dialysis nightly, he also has to do it three times a day. What did this mean for him? It meant he could not go back to work.
Our father was the main source of income for a family of 3. Our mom works in a department store sometimes full time, sometimes part time depending on how the business is going. Our fathers union does not offer any paid time off, short term disability or vacation time. If you don’t work, you don’t get paid. According to Transplantlivng.org an average kidney transplant (including all of the testing leading up to the surgery) costs 262,000. Luckily he has health insurance which will cover most of it but it will not cover lost wages, or the medication he will be on for the rest of his life. We are asking for your help in this journey. Any kind of donation, small or large, will be appreciated just the same. If you cannot donate, we ask that you just please pray for him! Let’s help Izudin fight IgA Nephropathy and Kidney Failure!
Our father has a disease called IgA Nephropathy. IgA nephropathy is an autoimmune disease that is caused by the person’s body harming the kidneys. We all have IgA antibodies in our bodies but it takes some kind of infection to trigger this kind of reaction. Our father’s nephrologist has come to the conclusion this reaction started when our dad was a child and got a severe kidney infection. This infection was so severe, that our father was in the hospital for about a month fighting it. He was able to finally go home since the doctors believed they had cured his kidney infection. They didn’t think to test for IgA back then.
Let’s fast forward to 2009. After a routine doctors visit, our dad’s primary doctor noticed his lab work came back abnormal. His creatinine levels were high, his potassium levels were also elevated and there was blood in his urine. Not knowing much about this kind of thing we didn’t think it was anything too serious. He would take some medicine the doctor would prescribe and he would be fine.
Elevated creatinine levels signifies that something is wrong with the kidneys. It means that the kidneys are not filtering the toxins that are in the body. These toxins then stay in the blood and the creatinine levels in the blood rise. These toxins that are so vital to leave the body, were building up in my father. Elevated potassium levels can have even worse effects on the human body. Human beings should only have a certain percent of potassium in their body and once it is elevated highly dangerous complications can arise. One of the biggest worries of high potassium is the effect it has on heart rhythm. What we did not know, was that IgA nephropathy was causing all of this.
What do we do now? How do we help our father? What is the next step to take? We are going to fight this, were not going to let his body fail him. Our father changed his diet; no more bananas, oranges or potatoes. He started taking daily medication to help with his kidney function, potassium and creatinine levels. He then started taking even more medication to combat the high blood pressure which also developed. He got biweekly lab testing and urine testing. We were hopeful! He made all of these changes so this must work. His kidneys won’t keep failing! They might not regain the function that was lost but we were going to fight any further failure.
In the fall of 2016, we received the news that our fathers labs were progressively getting worse. The medication, diet and routine lab work was not helping him anymore. He was losing the battle against IgA nephropathy and going into Kidney Failure. We had to accept the words “Your father is in kidney failure and needs either dialysis or a transplant to survive.”
Survival is key now. What is the next step to this? What can we do now that we hadn’t done before to help him? He underwent rigorous testing, a kidney biopsy and a whole new renal diet. The renal diet included everything he was doing before plus now he could not consume any more salt. He followed all of this and even went above and beyond. He cut out everything unhealthy, started exercising more, and even trying herbal remedies hoping something would help. In December of 2016, Izudin Elezovic was put on the United Network for Organ Sharing transplant list.
We were working hard on trying to find a living kidney donor so that we could avoid dialysis, unfortunately that did not happen. In May of 2017, he had a peritoneal catheter surgically implanted so that he could start dialysis. We were still searching for a kidney. My father’s transplant team decided that aggressive dialysis was necessary. This meant that not only does he have to do dialysis nightly, he also has to do it three times a day. What did this mean for him? It meant he could not go back to work.
Our father was the main source of income for a family of 3. Our mom works in a department store sometimes full time, sometimes part time depending on how the business is going. Our fathers union does not offer any paid time off, short term disability or vacation time. If you don’t work, you don’t get paid. According to Transplantlivng.org an average kidney transplant (including all of the testing leading up to the surgery) costs 262,000. Luckily he has health insurance which will cover most of it but it will not cover lost wages, or the medication he will be on for the rest of his life. We are asking for your help in this journey. Any kind of donation, small or large, will be appreciated just the same. If you cannot donate, we ask that you just please pray for him! Let’s help Izudin fight IgA Nephropathy and Kidney Failure!
Organizer and beneficiary
Nadina Hodzic
Organizer
Lemay, MO
Izudin Elezovic
Beneficiary