DES MOINES, Iowa — Four years ago Jessica Ramirez put up posters around town looking for a kidney donor for her husband .
Galdino Ramirez, Jessica’s husband, had stage 4 kidney failure and after 11 months on the organ waitlist received a kidney transplant. The new kidney did not last long.
“You know I was doing fine two months later I went back to work and then in December I got rejection,” Galdino Ramirez said.
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Galdino was put on rejection medication which weakened his immune system. After getting COVID-19 in September of 2022, Galdino was diagnosed with FSGS, which is scarring of the kidney, which required him to go through plasma exchange.
“Since September from 2022 I’ve been doing plasma exchange three times a week,” Galdino said.
Recently Galdino’s health has taken a turn for the worse.
“His kidney function, his GFR, which if it’s under 20 he can be on the list, when he had his last transplant he was at 17% functioning and I’d say the last month his GFR has declined dramatically. That’s why I fast-paced this because it’s now at 13%. So 13% functioning with three kidneys,” Jessica Ramirez said.