My name is Tim. I live in Colorado. I'm 58 and I have stage IV kidney disease (CKD), and it is the final stage before kidney failure (stage V). Basically, I have severe kidney damage attributed to high blood pressure that was undiagnosed and therefore untreated for several years.

I am hoping to raise money to help offset monthly bills in addition to medical bills for a new diagnosis I recently became aware of. I was in the hospital over Christmas 2025 for a urology issue. While there, they performed a series of ultrasound images to help identify and treat the issue. After being released, I was told to see a urologist for a follow-up. It was there that I was told about a moderate to large cyst on one of my kidneys. There was understandably concern. Cysts have a grading system (called the Bosniak classification system, and it spans from 1-4, with 4 being the most serious). With the ultrasound, I was classified as a 3, but they wanted to schedule an MRI to get a more complete picture of what they suspected this cyst to be. After the MRI, it was re-classified to a 4. With that, there is a high probability of malignancy of the renal cyst.

Having gone through surgery after suffering an ischemic stroke in 2016, I am familiar with the cost that will be associated with another surgery (my out-of-pocket with insurance was over $80K back then). This surgery, however, is a little more difficult as I could lose one of my already severely damaged kidneys. That would be the worst case and would more than likely drop my kidney function dramatically and force me to go on dialysis until a donor kidney is located (and if one is ever found, it just might not ever happen).

The surgery has not been scheduled as of yet but would probably happen before June 2026. Currently, there are a lot of questions that still need to be addressed, many of which won't be answered until after the surgery and the biopsy results come back. In the meantime, I am staying positive and trying to keep my mind on the here and now and not with the future I really can't control.

I appreciate anything that anyone is able to donate.