Jaime Romero

Family and friends of Jaime Gonzalez-Romero are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with transplantation.

Jaime has chosen to fundraise for Help Hope Live in part because Help Hope Live assures fiscal accountability of funds raised and tax deductibility for contributors. Contributors can be sure donations will be used to pay or reimburse medical and related expenses. To make a tax-deductible donation to this fundraising campaign, click on the Give button.

At about 1:00 am on Thursday morning of August 17th, 2022(about 2 weeks ago) and the day before Jaime’s 29th birthday, we received a call that there was a kidney available for Jaime. In that moment, we were scared that we wouldn’t be able to pay for any of it. So we turned it down. We actually said no to a kidney!! That in and of itself was mind blowing for us….

…..but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me back it up to the beginning of the story….our story.

Jaime(also called Jamie) and I met in May of 2016. We were just friends at the time, as he is 8 years younger than me. As a single mother of teenage/pre-teen girls, I couldn’t imagine dating someone that much younger than me. So we decided to just be friends, not that he didn’t try to convince me otherwise. Lol. We talked every day and he brightened my mood and spirit regularly. After some time, I introduced him to my youngest daughter, Daisy, as my friend. She was barely 10 at the time and they hit it off from day one! He later met Arianna, my eldest daughter, who lived with her dad at the time. At that point, I had two stamps of approval I hadn’t asked for because he was “too young for me”.
Over the next few months, I slowly started falling in love with this caring, kind, genuine and patient person. He started slowly taking apart all of my walls. Brick by brick, he lessened and/or removed all of my insecurities and doubts…all of my past hurt and pain…all of my traumas and broken spirits…he cleared right through them and built me up in the process. He loved me so much that he taught me to love myself. He showed me through so many ways what true love feels like. He considers me with himself as I do with him. We plan as one, act as one and move as one. I didn’t even understand what that looked like. He didn’t let my past scare him away. He held my hand and walked the whole way right beside me. His personality and heart for love was so big and influential and his sense of humor cracked me up. He really changed my life…our lives.
Even more importantly to me, him and my girls got along so well. He and Daisy were becoming so close. Her father hasn’t been in her life much since before her first birthday and here comes this gentle, kind person to show her a love she didn’t understand. They became the best of friends. He had all the patience it took for her to love him as much as her heart could handle.
So, it was no shock that she was happy when we decided to live together. We became official on February 13th, 2017. Then, she was ecstatic when we decided to get married and share our life together. One year later, February 13th, 2018, we joined together as a family. A commitment that included my girls.
Over the next few years, our family grew in so many ways together. We went through many different trials and tribulations, each triumph bringing us closer together and strengthening the bond between all of us. Jaime became as much Daisy’s dad as any biological father could be. He loved her so much and was happy to be the piece of the puzzle we were missing. While she was involved all along the way, Arianna moved into the house in the beginning of 2020, right before the pandemic. She quickly became even closer with Jaime. The pandemic gave us all time to spend together, even when we wanted a small break. Lol.
In February of 2021, Jaime started having lower back pain. At the time, he worked in construction outside building houses, as he had been doing since he was 17 years old. He thought he had pulled a muscle, so we were doing the usual remedies…. hot showers, light massages, icy hot, lots of water and ibuprophen. After a few days, he developed a high fever and so I convinced his stubborn self to go to the ER. After about 3 hours and some blood work, he was admitted, and they said his kidneys were the problem. It was all a whirlwind from there. We didn’t really understand what was all happening and it was happening fast. What they did say was that he had chronic kidney disease and that we needed to speak with a specialist.
We found a PCP immediately, set the appointment and went in. They did all of the usual checks, blood work and questionnaires.
Within 24 hours of doing the initial exam and blood work, the doctor’s office called and informed Jaime that he needed to see a referred nephrologist immediately with a list of dos and don’ts until he was able to speak with the new doctor. We were very nervous and anxious to get to the new doctor and hear the details of what was going on. That was a very scary 2 days, to say the least.
When we finally met with Dr. G, she informed us that Jaime’s kidneys were functioning at 19% so he had stage 4 kidney disease. Again, everything happened so fast. We then met with a dietician to figure out what he could do to slow the progression of the disease. Next was to run all the test to figure out why this had happened & was happening. Another biopsy and some previous medical records later, they determined that they had no idea why. There is no explanation as to why his kidneys have failed. After a sonogram, they determined that his kidneys had shrunk and that they’re primarily scar tissue. There is no healing the kidneys, only helping them until he can get another one.
Dr. G told us that as long as he could keep his kidney function above 10%, he could maintain it without dialysis. So, we took as many steps as possible within our budget and lifestyle to maintain and control that 19%. Jaime was eating most of the right things and following all the rules. Over the next 8-9 months, the number dropped little by little until October.
On his monthly routine appointment to see where he was at, Dr. G informed that his function had dropped to 9% and that she believed dialysis to be the best way to maintain.
Again, the whirlwind of information and appointments and decisions….it was overwhelming and fast. We finally decided to go with Peritoneal Dialysis (P.D.) so that he could do his treatments at home. They also recommend it to be the best option for him and the safest….and Jaime agreed. Some appointments, a surgery consultation, and a whole lot of information later….
We scheduled the surgery to place the tube in his abdomen so he could begin his journey to a new kidney. With the most awesome P.D. nurse in the world, we’ll call him Nurse P. and the best training in the world, Jaime learned how to connect and disconnect himself from the machine daily. Fortunately, I got to learn too so I could help when needed.
Because of the limitations of having this tube in his abdomen and the weight restrictions he has on lifting things, he had to stop working right before the surgery. This was incredibly hard on him at first because he was taught and used to being a provider for his family. He didn’t let this keep him down but for just a minute. He kicked his motivation into high gear and really stepped up for the whole family. He has taken on the cooking, cleaning, laundry, getting everyone to and from school and work and so much more!! He has become the glue that has been holding us all together. He literally takes care of everything and has the best attitude about it. He somehow still finds time to motivate, encourage and lift all three of us hormonal girls up daily.
I can’t even explain the pure love I feel for this man. I couldn’t have ever understood what it means to truly love someone wholly and completely. I didn’t really know what it meant to love myself. Jaime showed our family a love we didn’t know existed. He was the missing part, and we didn’t have a clue. I can’t imagine even a second of my life without him.

In April of 2022, Jaime was placed on the Kidney Donor list here in DFW and it was dated back to the date that he officially started dialysis in October. We went to all the classes and educational sessions to get all of the information we could about how it all works. One of the important parts of those sessions was the meeting with the social worker. Amongst other things, she explained the money part. They recommend you have somewhere between $20-25K in the bank to cover anti-rejection meds, before you even get a kidney. This was crucial information in the decision-making part of receiving a new one.
We have insurance through my job. With that, we have a high deductible insurance policy with a $6,500/per person deductible. The anti-rejection meds are approx. $2,000 a month. She clarified that it is important to have that nest egg because those meds are necessary. Because he is currently on dialysis, his deductible is met within 2-3 weeks of the year. Once he receives a kidney transplant, he will no longer be on dialysis. Without that, we would be out of pocket in January-March of each year. He will have to take those meds every day for the rest of his life. Without him, he will not live. We would also be better off to have a few years in advance so that we could continuously save throughout life, as he would need them indefinitely.
For someone that had about $36 in the bank at the time, we were blown all the way away! How in the world could we ever come up with this amount of money?

After crying for about 24 hours and being so discouraged and lost in those moments, i decided that we would just have to find a way. They told us that the wait time is approximately 5 years for a kidney. We thought we would have time to work on it. We thought it would be a while. We were wrong.

At about 1:00 am on Thursday morning of August 17th, 2022(about 2 weeks ago) and the day before Jaime’s 29th birthday, we received a call that there was a kidney available for Jaime. At that moment, we were scared that we wouldn’t be able to pay for any of it. After a little consideration, we turned it down. We actually said no to a kidney!!
That in and of itself was mind blowing for us….
I can’t explain the feeling I had when I laid there and listened to my husband break down. This is a man that I have seen cry all of two times in our marriage and he sobbed like a broken child. It was the most heart wrenching thing I can’t describe and a sound I hope to never have to hear again.

Which brings us to why we are here….

I am here to ask for your help, so we don’t have to turn down another kidney. I work as many hours as my job will allow me and we are still barely making it on a personal level. I am not asking for help with our personal stuff. Through God’s grace and provisions, I got that part covered. It’s the medical part that I am here for. All of this will be stacked and saved for meds after we get the next call for a kidney.
Your donation will go for after transplant meds only! Also, any donation over $50 is tax deductible and comes with a receipt.
Jaime has a rare blood type(O+) so we have to be ready when the next one becomes available. I will be getting tested soon to see if I am a match to be a living donor. If so, it’s just a matter of being ready. If not, we will wait it out.
We will be doing a variety of other fundraisers associated with Kidneys & Kindness, with the help of some awesome friends & family! We are aiming for $25,000 in total. It seems like a lot but I believe it can be done. Where there’s a will, there’s a way…and I’m as strong willed as they come….so this is possible!!

Those of you that know me personally know how much I love God. I believe in His power, grace, mercy and love! I believe in Him and all of his awesomeness! In the moment of that call, I let my fear take over my faith. Every waking moment since then, I have been thanking God for clarity and asking for His strength & courage in facing this battle. I know we will overcome this with the help of “the community”.

I know everyone is struggling in their own way. We greatly appreciate any and all help, no matter the amount. We also appreciate any and all prayers.

Thank you for taking the time to read Jaime’s story and his important role in our lives!!

For more information, please contact Help Hope Live at 800.642.8399.

Thank you for your support!