Share the Season: Single mom with kidney disease can only work part time

Share the Season is an annual campaign that offers one-time aid to people affected by unforeseen hardships. The people are not identified to protect their privacy.

A painful kidney ailment diagnosed in July has turned this 28-year-old single mom’s life upside down.

But Share the Season recently was able to help her get back on top of her bills, plus provide enough that she can buy a “present or two” for her two children.

“A lot of stress release,” she said of the assistance.

Not much had gone well for the certified medical assistant since she was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease, which causes cysts to develop on kidneys.

“It’s not curable, just manageable,” she said.

The pain has forced her to work only on “OK days,” she said. “There aren’t any good days.”

Working part time at best has been difficult, emotionally as well as financially.

“I have always been a hard worker,” she said. “I’ve worked full time since I was 16. This is kind of depressing.”

With her income greatly reduced, she and her children, ages 10 and 8, moved in with her parents in August.

But days before she was to move, her apartment was broken into and everything was stolen.

“I mean everything,” she said. “They took furniture, clothes, the children’s stuff. They even took our food. The apartment was trashed.”

Her kidney disease, which right now affects only her left kidney, is being treated with pain medication. But after the first of the year, she hopes to see another doctor and begin managing the ailment better.

“Then I think I can go back to working full time,” she said. “This whole working a little isn’t me.”

Share the Season is a joint project of The Eagle, the Wichita Community Foundation and the Salvation Army.

So far this season, it has raised $173,079.

Send contributions to Share the Season at the Wichita Community Foundation, 301 N. Main, Suite 100, Wichita, KS 67202. To donate online, go to www.sharetheseason.org. If you have questions about donating, call 316-264-4880.

Donors will be listed in The Eagle; please note if you prefer to remain anonymous.

To apply for help, fill out an application at www.sharetheseason.org or pick one up at the Salvation Army, 350 N. Market. The application deadline is Dec. 20. For more information, call 316-263-2769.

This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Share the Season: Single mom with kidney disease can only work part time."