An Asian common toad [also known as the black-spectacled toad, Duttaphrynus melanostictus] sits on a lily pad in a pond in Taiwan. These toads are surprisingly good swimmers, adapted to breed during monsoon season, when water sources are especially treacherous. Images by
Wednesday, December 19th: Hi everyone, I’m Gemma and I’m so sorry to have to ask this again but, would anyone be able to send me a few £’s to help me get through the winter months, especially Christmas & New Year?!
As many of you already know, I’ve been struggling a lot these past few months, due to my welfare benefits being revoked and without any government aid, I’ve been struggling to make ends meet. So far, I’ve been getting by with the help of some of the kindest people in the world but as it’s now winter where I live, I’m struggling to get through the festive period. To make things worse, I’m not due to receive a partial-benefit payment until the New Year and I desperately need help.I need at least £150, to help me get groceries/supplies and pay a few essential bills (keeping my gas + electricity on) throughout Christmas & New Year.
I’ve also created a wishlist with some essential items + Christmas gifts to help me get by (thermal clothing, boots etc..) and as many of the items are from the marketplace, you’ll need to join my listto buy any items.
If anyone could spare any amount to help me, even if it’s just £1/$1/€1, it would literally save my life and keep me warm and sharing definitely helps just as much as donations. Nobody is obligated in any way to buy anything off my wishlist or donate if they can’t or don’t want to, I know we’re all struggling. Thank you for your help 💖
It would really mean so much to me guys if anyone could possibly help out, I desperately need help to pay my bills and get through Christmas and New Year and I’m struggling so much to do so. Literally anything helps right now. 🙏💖
This is the October 2018 edition of this post, and hopefully the final version.
Dessie is now ten years old. Yay!! For the last two years, she’s held steady at 22% total kidney function, in Stage Four Chronic Kidney Disease. At her last nephrologist visit, her creatinine has gone up. She says she’s tired all the time.
We think she’s tipping over to Stage 5 CKD/End Stage Renal Disease. Her next visit to the nephrologist is in December, and I’m expecting to get the diagnosis then. If not, great! But I’m not hopeful.
I think we’ll need to make another trip to Seattle Chikdren’s Hospital then, so they can run their own labs and make her active on the deceased donor transplant list. Normally, I’ve been told by them, once a child is active on the last, they typically receive a donor kidney within six months to a year. So I think 2019 will be her year of the transplant. Possibly dialysis before then — I know her local nephrologist wants to avoid it if we can.
The transplant itself requires we stay in Seattle for three to four months, with frequent follow ups afterwards. (First every month, then every two months, then every three months.). Each trip by car takes 6.5-8 hours each way, and usually two tanks of gas. Special Mobilty Services can help with gas, and lodging, if we can give them two weeks notice.
The transplant will be a journey in every sense of the word. I would love it if this could be fully funded before then.
If you have a spare kidney and want to try to be her living donor, here’s the Donors need to between 21-45, in reasonably good health, and O+ blood type. No smoking or drinking alcohol, not even occasionally. If this is something you’re interested, please contact the University of Washington’s living donor program at 206-598-3627, and mention you’re interested in donating to Dessie McAdams. That begins the process.
I’m a single mom, with three kids. To deal with my hideous finances which have put us in the negative regularly since May of 2017, to get us back on our feet, we are moving in with my mother for at least the next year. Perhaps longer; she hasn’t put a deadline on it. I think I’m going to have to declare bankruptcy to get our from under, which will tank my already bad credit score. So I’m not sure of our prospects afterwards; if I could, I’d rather buy a place than rent, but even renting will be hard, with bad credit and high rents.
In the most immediate future, we need about $300-500 through October to either rent a dumpster or hire a junk hauling service to clear out the backyard, garage, and basement. There’s a lot of heavy stuff my mom and I can’t handle.
This move to my mom’s also gets us away from my ex and his family, and Imbin the process of getting the parenting agreement modified to supervised visitation. He molested Dessie, by her account, sometime while we were married, around when she was 4-5. (I reported it to CPS and the police as soon as I learned of this, but as it was some years after it occurred, there was no evidence and they did nothing).
He’s also verbally and emotionally abused all of us.
His family may decide to bring in a lawyer for him with the requested change in parenting plan; I don’t know.
I guess what I’m saying is, once we move we’ll be doing better than we have in a long while. But help is still needed. A miracle, even, if it could be so, to get us through her transplant and from there to a safe place to live independently. Please get this fully funded (or more) as soon as possible, if it can be done.
If you don’t want to use the GoFundMe, that’s fine. We also have
PayPal.me/kerryren
Venmo@KerryRen
SquareCash $KerryRen
And CirclePay at kerryren@yahoo.com
If using these, please let me know who you are and if you’d like to be publicly thanked. Not all the apps are conducive to interactions, I’ve noticed.
We are incredibly grateful for all the help we’ve received through tumblr so far. You guys have literally helped keep us alive.
If you can’t donate, don’t worry about it. If you don’t want to, don’t bother me about it. Boosts and reblogs still help, though!
Here, have a cute pic of Dessie with a plush kidney a mutual sent her!
On 12/18/18 we’re going to see her nephrologist, where I fully expect to learn that she’s tipped into Chronic Kidney Disease, Stage Five/End Stage Renal Disease. Then I’m pretty sure we’ll need to make another trip to Seattle Children’s Hospital to activate her on their deceased donor list. (She’s on it, but st on-hold status).
As they prioritize children as donor recipients, typically once active in the list, a child receives a needed kidney within six months to one year. So it’s quite likely 2019 will be her kidney year.
If there’s any way we can get this fully funded before then, I don’t know how I’ll express the depth of my and my family’s gratitude.
12/18/18 update: It’s official. She’s at 19% GFR, so at stage five. Her nephrologist is going to call and send her latest results to Seattle Children’s Hospital, and we’re going to also call them to see what we else we need to do to get her on active status on their deceased donor list.
With any luck, by this time in 2019 she will have a new functioning kidney.
hey, i’m struggling to pay utility bills since my abusive flatmate, who played a part in me becoming the victim of an antisemitic hate crime at the hands of a cishet white goyishe woman, hasn’t paid her share in months (since june, she only paid her share of the bills once, covering for 2 previous months)
Wednesday, December 19th: Hi everyone, I’m Gemma and I’m so sorry to have to ask this again but, would anyone be able to send me a few £’s to help me get through the winter months, especially Christmas & New Year?!
As many of you already know, I’ve been struggling a lot these past few months, due to my welfare benefits being revoked and without any government aid, I’ve been struggling to make ends meet. So far, I’ve been getting by with the help of some of the kindest people in the world but as it’s now winter where I live, I’m struggling to get through the festive period. To make things worse, I’m not due to receive a partial-benefit payment until the New Year and I desperately need help.I need at least £150, to help me get groceries/supplies and pay a few essential bills (keeping my gas + electricity on) throughout Christmas & New Year.
I’ve also created a wishlist with some essential items + Christmas gifts to help me get by (thermal clothing, boots etc..) and as many of the items are from the marketplace, you’ll need to join my listto buy any items.
If anyone could spare any amount to help me, even if it’s just £1/$1/€1, it would literally save my life and keep me warm and sharing definitely helps just as much as donations. Nobody is obligated in any way to buy anything off my wishlist or donate if they can’t or don’t want to, I know we’re all struggling. Thank you for your help 💖
Boozhoo (hello), my name is Ken, I am a disabled Ojibwe artist from northern Wisconsin who has recently relocated to northern Minnesota to be closer to my children and have better access to healthcare. I am writing this post because I am having a hard time making ends meet and any donations I could possibly receive at this time would be greatly appreciated. Recent events have left my bank account depleted and I am still having to help cover the utility bills back home on the reservation for my father who is also disabled.
I do have PayPal, that is really the best way to donate at this time, the email I use for that is: baapimakwa@gmail.com, or you can click here.
Did not plan on returning to the reservation until after the holiday season is over but my father went to the tribe’s event and ended up getting presents for my roomies little ones and for my own little ones, so now now I am gonna have to go down sometime during this week and gas money will be needed. I will also have the opportunity to pick up a turkey from the tribe which is much needed for my household.
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
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