She Was Diagnosed With An Inflammatory Disease, Then Chronic Kidney Disease, And She’s Struggling To Pay Her Medical Bills While Keeping A Roof Over Her Head
Chicago, Illinois. Anitra Hutcherson had to go on medical leave without pay in April and has not returned to work due to continued health concerns.
She doesn’t have any immediate living family, and her community of friends could not visit her in the hospital due to Covid protocols. Hutcherson’s story is, sadly, not unique, but it is essential to share.
On her GoFundMe page, Hutcherson describes the beginnings of her struggles in 2018: “I was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, which is an inflammatory disease that affects various parts of the body, mainly the lymph nodes, lungs, eyes, and skin…my sarcoidosis decided to affect my kidneys.”
This diagnosis should have answered some of Hutcherson’s questions, but her treatment plan only created more. She began a steroid treatment for sarcoidosis that caused her to gain weight and finished in early 2019.
However, soon after, she started losing weight rapidly, experiencing fatigue, extreme back pain, anxiety, and depression.
GoFundMe; pictured above is Anitra Hutcherson
She changed jobs in the hopes of reducing stress and maintaining her health, even taking a substantial pay cut. But budgeting and managing her symptoms soon became overwhelming.
Fortunately, a checkup in 2020 revealed the cause of her pain and weight loss; Hutcherson was in stage 4 severe renal failure.
Her official diagnosis was Chronic Renal Sarcoidosis, which is the precursor to kidney failure.
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The Mayo Clinic describes the next stage as “when chronic kidney disease — the gradual loss of kidney function — reaches an advanced state.”
Detecting stones in both kidneys, her doctors removed large stones in her right kidney and watched her left kidney for further developments.
Hutcherson shared that the medications doctors then prescribed came with extreme side effects, including “severe hand tremors, fatigue, the inability to write” as well as brain fog and difficulty with memory and speech.
On her GoFundMe page, she shared touching words about asking for help:
“Asking for help has always been a struggle for me, but I have been working on that because it’s okay to ask for help when you need assistance. I’ve learned that I can’t do everything on my own.”
If you would like to donate to help Anitra maintain her housing, medical care, and pay her bills, you can do that here.
More About:Human Interest
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