Joan Aronson

Julia Aronson Needs A LIVING Kidney DONOR

Resources---FACEBOOK: Jules Needs A Kidney EMAIL: julesneedsakidney@comcast.net INSTAGRAM: @haute_hemodialysis WEBSITE: www.julesneedsakidney.com

I’m so fortunate and proud to have Julia (affectionately called Jules) as my daughter. She is smart, creative, and insightful, gregarious, spirited, and outspoken, with a fierce loyalty to friends, a passion for animals, a strong sense of justice, and a flair for the dramatic. The qualities that stand out most, however, are her courage and compassion. Commenting on Jules' having raised $425 for the Kidney Foundation on Facebook, one of her friends described her as “the bravest and most giving person I’ve ever met.” Jules has been fearlessly confronting illness since the tender age of 3, when I marveled at her calmly observing her own blood being drawn during a serious infection. Migraines emerged at age 9. By 10, around the same time as her best friend, Nora, was diagnosed with leukemia, she developed a rheumatoid condition which, I believe, was a manifestation of her empathy for Nora. From then on the intensity of Jules' symptoms seemed to wax and wane in parallel with Nora’s. Tragically, four years later Nora passed away, and within months Jules' ailment morphed into lupus. At that time Jules predicted that she would also die young. I discouraged that kind of thinking, not wanting her to surrender to pessimism. Instead, these experiences and her desire to help others inspired Jules to become a nurse, but she was compelled to drop out of nursing school when her condition further deteriorated into lupus nephritis. Now, at age 31, Jules'prediction about an early demise has become reality. Her kidneys have completely failed, and her life is dominated by dialysis, which though life-preserving is debilitating in itself. As devastated as she is, Jules continues to meet these challenges with courage and dogged determination. A transplant promises to give her a life again, and she will not relent until a living donor comes forward. Learn more at: WWW.JULESNEEDSAKIDNEY.COM

HOW HAS KIDNEY FAILURE AFFECTED JULIA'S LIFE?
DIALYSIS: She is currently on "life support", undergoing four hours of dialysis three times a week, leaving her feeling nauseated, weak, and exhausted without motivation or opportunity to do much else.
REPEATED SURGERIES: Insertion and removal of peritoneal and hemodialysis catheters (in one instance causing a pulmonary blood clot, a course of blood thinners, and eventual hair loss) as well as a fistula placement and subsequent repair.
PERPETUAL PAIN: In joints from lupus, in intestines from gastroparesis, in head from migraines.
INABILITY TO WORK: Jules has needed to put her career as a horse trainer on hold. She cannot even visit the barn due to danger of sepsis if her dialysis catheter site were to become infected.
DIMINISHED QUALITY OF LIFE: Prohibitions against large social gatherings, showering, strenuous exercise, swimming, sunbathing, attending concerts, and especially horseback riding (her most fulfilling activity).
TRAVEL HIATUS: Jules, a history nerd, had planned to visit the D-Day landing sites in France for her 30th birthday. Instead she was in the hospital after being diagnosed with gastroparesis.
DIETARY AND FLUID RESTRICTIONS for lupus nephritis and gastroparesis
EMOTIONAL DISTRESS: Julia endures the unfathomable agony of facing her own mortality at 31. "With lupus nephritis I don't know how many days I have left."

A transplant would mean a life worth living!! Jules yearns to be healthy, energetic, and productive again; she is young and hopes to have a long life ahead!! She wants to resume her career as a horse trainer and to enjoy dancing at concerts with her friends, playing and hiking with her dog, traveling the globe and, someday, having a family. Jules envisions a time when she can once again live to the fullest, free from the constant terror of imminent death, able to return the support of family and friends and give back to the world!

I realize we are making a monumental request, but a kidney from a living donor can save Jules' life. A donor can live a normal, robust life with only one kidney. Medical costs of donation are covered by Jules' insurance. Someone who is blood type B or O (positive or negative) has the greatest chance of being a good match, but most anyone can donate regardless of blood type through a program called paired donation. Typically, a blood relative, spouse, or close family friend donates one of their kidneys to the patient in need. (I'm extremely saddened and frustrated that although I am blood type B, pre-existing conditions disqualify me.) However, any altruistic individual can make an anonymous donation without knowing the recipient personally. As a mother I am heartbroken that I can't kiss Jules on the head and make it all better, but there are important ways that others can help.

🆘🆘 Please SHARE Jules' story on social media to help find her a new kidney. GO to her Facebook page, Jules Needs A Kidney ,and FOLLOW her on Instagram @haute_hemodialysis to witness her battle with kidney failure and read her advice offered to encourage others in similar circumstances. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

If you have questions, comments, or a message for Jules, please email her Living Donor Champions (parents, Joan and Jeff Aronson) at JULESNEEDSAKIDNEY@COMCAST.NET.

IF YOU WOULD CONSIDER BEING JULES' LIVING DONOR,
🆘🆘Please visit HTTP://WWW.PSLMC.COM/SIGNMEUP to fill out a short survey to start the evaluation process. The link opens One Medical Passport. Click the green “Register”button. Continue. As facility choose Presbyterian/St. Luke’s. As Named Recipient, enter JULIA ARONSON.

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