Kender needs help

Kender needs help

Posted on October 1, 2008

Some of us who’ve been around for a while know Kender’s story, but let me share a little bit about what I know that makes this bleg urgent.

He’s caught in the system; having had a problem with his kidneys since he was a little boy. He is smaller because he went through those health problems as a child, and today, he can’t make too much money - because if he does, he has to forego the much-needed government benefits he needs to survive and get his life-saving medical treatments. Without dialysis, he would die.

His last kidney transplant failed. He has so far had two of them, as far as I know.

That part pretty much sucks, but he pretty much takes it all in stride. I find that amazing; I am constantly amazed by Kender’s unfailing resolve.

He did have a moment recently when he hit a low and said he was going to suspend treatments, that he saw no hope of going on, that he was going to write a note to his son, and just shrivel up and die….but that was short-lived.

You can understand how someone who lives with this condition every day might have a low day now and then; even healthy people with no problems go through that.

Now, his ’significant other’ relationship is over, and he finds himself without a home. He had a pretty nice set up with her, he had a home dialysis machine and she was his assistant backup in case something went wrong in the process; which can happen sometimes. Sometimes the patient passes out; but any number of things can happen in the process of putting in the needles, etc.. But the main point is, when he’s doing his own dialysis at home, he’s not at the mercy of the ‘unit’s’ schedule, and he feels better; not to mention the fact that he doesn’t have to find transportation to and from the unit.

At any rate, this lady still has his dialysis machine. He moved in with someone temporarily, but needs to get back there to collect his belongings, but more importantly, get his dialysis machine, and he needs his own place to live, which is another expense that is much more expensive up front, but will be manageable once he pays those up front expenses.

All of these things take money, and he has no vehicle, which is another factor which is going to prevent him from doing what he needs to do.

Now, we have had a generous offer out of Florida where a woman is willing to give her motor home to Kender, if we can find a way to get it to California. So we’re working on several ideas to get it from Florida to California; one of which is an old-fashioned daisy chain.

We have an offer to help out from Alabama, and another from Dallas, Texas, and Kender’s dad is in Arkansas - and he’s willing to pitch in. The motor home will take about a quart of oil a day traveling that far, and I’m not sure about gas mileage, but these are all things that will cost - but it’s the cheapest route to get it to where it needs to go.

Updated: more stops

Updated stops…

See the preliminary map and stops, http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&saddr=Ft.+Walton+Beach,+F&daddr=Mobile+Alabama+to:Jackson,+Mississippi+to:Shreveport,+Louisiana+to:Dallas,+TX+to:Abilene,+TX+to:Carlsbad,+Texas+to:Pecos,+Texas+to:Sierra+Blanca+to:El+Paso,+United+States+to:Wilcox+Rd,+Cochise,+Arizona,+United+States+of+America+to:Phoenix,+AZ+to:Havasu+Palms,+California,+United+States+to:Big+Bear,+CA&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=32.400559,-100.694455&sspn=72.088042,124.101563&ie=UTF8&z=5

(see map below)

Adjust the map so you can see it correctly…or click on the ‘view larger map’ to see all the stops and the names of the cities. This might be changing as we keep iterating the route.

So take a look at the map and let’s see if we can get that vehicle over to him. Insurance and tags are paid for and the transfer will happen once it’s in California, which was also very trusting and generous of the owner.

He needs some cash - to put some of his stuff in storage, to raise money for his new place, and a number of things that I’ve already mentioned, and he is between a rock and a hard place as far as being able to do it for himself, and that’s where you come in. Please contribute whatever you can; time is of the essence here; he needs to get his stuff; particularly his dialysis machine.

Kender’s plan is to get on his own two feet so he can move forward from here. Every now and then it helps to get a leg up.

So please go to his website and donate what you can.

Click on Kender’s Musings and donate through the paypal button in the left hand sidebar.

Update: Kender tells me that being tethered to a unit’s schedule robs him of his freedom, and he doesn’t feel as good when he goes through their dialysis procedure as when he does it at home.

being back in a unit has proven I don’t feel as good on a machine in center
and mentally I cannot lose my freedom again
and frankly I simply must find a way to make this work or I will lose my machine and I am not sure that I can handle that again….
and if every person who stopped by just left 5 bucks we would be doing ok

http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/10/01/kender-needs-help/