(…but already he will have hesitated, wondering as he is how such a thing could ever be communicated, for a ‘personal health story’ is nothing less than the total description of the physical, psychological and spiritual dimensions of an assumed singularity, dispersed across time, about which he is so unfamiliar and which is perhaps that which is most foreign to him, so how could that be shared?)

OK. That was weird. Let’s just stick to the facts and together presume even if unjustifiably that facticity is most fundamentally constitutive of Dasein. Properly externalizing, I shall use the third-person:

Tim Schehl is some two months away from his 40th year. Through processes mechanistic or karmic or some historical combination thereof the sign ‘τιμώ θεός’ landed upon a material-semiotic body within which a mutated copy of the PKD1/2 gene triggers bilateral pathogenic cell reproduction within the nephronic structures of the kidney organs and which, left untreated, causes organ failure and death.

But wait! There’s science! Approximately 60 years ago scientists and medical professionals began experimenting with kidney organ donation and grafting as a means of treating Ending Stage Renal Disease. But while medical technologies and methods have consistently advanced with respect to the treatment of kidney disease, the ambient social environment (in the United States especially) has produced numerous exigencies that sharply limit affordability, access and support for persons seeking treatment for this condition.

Fun fact: ADPKD affects roughly 200,000-600,000 persons in the United States. Global figures are harder to estimate, but likely they approximate 12,000,000.

Arriving at the first-person, I can now despite this formidable social context nonetheless give voice to an authentic gratitude beyond calculation, boundless as the multiverse. Gratitude for the slow crawl of medico-technical progress; gratitude for the chance to live; gratitude for every moment of time with my children and wife, friends and relations who will because of all of these contingencies not be required to process my death quite so early as they otherwise would have; gratitude for the people who underwent the donor screening process; and most of all, gratitude to my donor, Emma Young, for the pure gift beyond economy. How does one say ‘thank you’ for that?

On to the nitty-gritty: I am making use of a national non-profit organization named ‘Help Hope Live (HHL)’ to raise funds that will allow me to temporarily re-locate to Salt Lake City where I will undergo a series of medical procedures [bilateral nephrectomy followed by kidney transplant] and follow-up treatments. I am also raising funds to help with the after-insurance costs associated with the procedures, follow-up treatments and medications that I will require to prevent my body from rejecting the transplanted organ.

I am using the non-profit HHL to help with these fundraising efforts for two reasons: first, any donations you provide thereby become tax-deductible. HHL will immediately supply documentation for your tax-purposes via email upon the provision of any donations; second, by routing your donations through HHL I will not incur tax penalties for any donations received. I will supply invoices for qualified expenses to HHL and they will pay providers directly on my behalf. If you would like to learn more about what constitutes ‘qualified medical expenses’ you can find this information at helphopelive.org.

Finally, please feel free to reach out to me at any point with questions or comments. (406) 317-1640 (home); (406) 317-2194 (cell); [email protected] (email).

For more information about Help Hope Live, contact them at 1.800.642.8399.

Thank you for your support!

With love and gratitude,
Tim