My Dad Needs A New Liver
Donation protected
My dad, Bobby Bulls, and our family could really use some help.
In 2008 he was diagnosed with both liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. The doctors put him on the liver transplant list and treated him with chemotherapy and radiation.
Afterwards, he felt better and chose to take himself off the transplant list because the cancer was gone and he was functional, even with liver cirrhosis, and even if approved for the transplant, there would not have been a way to pay for it.
For about 10 years, my dad continued on… working and earning a living, even though we could all tell he never felt very good. He’s dealt with dizziness, pain, memory issues, nausea and more over the last 10 years…
Doctors have constantly been amazed at how he’s been able to live his life with a liver functioning at about 10%.
Sometimes he’d have to take time off from work due to illness… but he’s always managed to scrape by despite a lot of stress and close calls.
He’s also completely changed his diet to be as healthy as he can, which we believe has helped him last as long as he has.
But in mid 2018, things started progressing and have gotten worse and worse. The cancer came back and he’s been in and out of the ER for the last several months.
Since then, things have felt really scary for my family.
He’s been losing a lot of blood and has had to receive 10 pints in the last 2 months alone.
And even through all this, he’s managed to stay happy and positive and even continues to show up to work in between hospital visits. (And to be honest, none of us understand how he does it – he feels physically worse than any of us, but has the best attitude out of all of us.)
All we can think is that it’s his desire to make sure my mom is taken care of, and he’s proven time after time that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to make sure of it.
He’s always been a fun-loving guy and so welcoming of others… He’s never met a stranger and still enjoys babysitting his nieces and nephews on my mom’s side of the family. And he loves my fiancé, Andrew, like his own.
Many times, Andrew has told me how he simply can’t believe how happy and positive my dad seems, even though his health has been so bad for so many years.
He and my mom have always been so loving and generous to others… raising two nieces in their home as their own children. He’s always been 100% supportive of us… and when two of the three kids he helped raise came out to him as gay… he didn’t hesitate for one second to tell us he loved us no matter what.
However, now doctors have made it clear that there’s no way around getting a liver transplant this time, and my family doesn’t know how to pay for it and feels at a loss.
My mom knows how stressed my dad is about the finances, and she just wanted to do whatever he can to help him not worry so much.
The total cost for the transplant is over $200,000, and after insurance my parents are going to be responsible for $10,000.
In addition to that, the doctors said my dad would have to leave his small town for 3 months, to be closer to the hospital in Dallas.
And they said this would be another $6,000 in rent to stay at the hospital apartments.
And finally, this would require my dad to be away from work for 3 to 4 months and not be able to make his regular income to pay the regular living expenses, such as bills and food for him, my mom, and my grandmother.
And to make things worse, my parents don’t have any savings or retirement money saved that they can pull from.
And I don’t have any savings to pull from to help them either at this time; since my partner and I have invested everything we have into our business.
We’re told that he moves to the very top of the liver transplant list in mid February, and it’s likely he’ll be accepted to get the transplant almost immediately after.
So now my family is in dire need to come up with the funds ASAP in order to make this liver transplant possible.
We’ve calculated that my parents need to come up with at extra $20,000 in order to make it through this health crisis.
$10,000 for liver transplant
$6,000 for rent to stay at the hospital
$4,000 for living expenses/bills/food, etc. for a 3 to 4 month period since he won’t be able to make an income
If you have any extra change or resources that you would be willing to donate to my parents, it would mean the world to us and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
With so much love and gratitude,
Zach Bulls
PS: You can read more about my dad in this Temple Daily Telegram article.
In 2008 he was diagnosed with both liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. The doctors put him on the liver transplant list and treated him with chemotherapy and radiation.
Afterwards, he felt better and chose to take himself off the transplant list because the cancer was gone and he was functional, even with liver cirrhosis, and even if approved for the transplant, there would not have been a way to pay for it.
For about 10 years, my dad continued on… working and earning a living, even though we could all tell he never felt very good. He’s dealt with dizziness, pain, memory issues, nausea and more over the last 10 years…
Doctors have constantly been amazed at how he’s been able to live his life with a liver functioning at about 10%.
Sometimes he’d have to take time off from work due to illness… but he’s always managed to scrape by despite a lot of stress and close calls.
He’s also completely changed his diet to be as healthy as he can, which we believe has helped him last as long as he has.
But in mid 2018, things started progressing and have gotten worse and worse. The cancer came back and he’s been in and out of the ER for the last several months.
Since then, things have felt really scary for my family.
He’s been losing a lot of blood and has had to receive 10 pints in the last 2 months alone.
And even through all this, he’s managed to stay happy and positive and even continues to show up to work in between hospital visits. (And to be honest, none of us understand how he does it – he feels physically worse than any of us, but has the best attitude out of all of us.)
All we can think is that it’s his desire to make sure my mom is taken care of, and he’s proven time after time that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to make sure of it.
He’s always been a fun-loving guy and so welcoming of others… He’s never met a stranger and still enjoys babysitting his nieces and nephews on my mom’s side of the family. And he loves my fiancé, Andrew, like his own.
Many times, Andrew has told me how he simply can’t believe how happy and positive my dad seems, even though his health has been so bad for so many years.
He and my mom have always been so loving and generous to others… raising two nieces in their home as their own children. He’s always been 100% supportive of us… and when two of the three kids he helped raise came out to him as gay… he didn’t hesitate for one second to tell us he loved us no matter what.
However, now doctors have made it clear that there’s no way around getting a liver transplant this time, and my family doesn’t know how to pay for it and feels at a loss.
My mom knows how stressed my dad is about the finances, and she just wanted to do whatever he can to help him not worry so much.
The total cost for the transplant is over $200,000, and after insurance my parents are going to be responsible for $10,000.
In addition to that, the doctors said my dad would have to leave his small town for 3 months, to be closer to the hospital in Dallas.
And they said this would be another $6,000 in rent to stay at the hospital apartments.
And finally, this would require my dad to be away from work for 3 to 4 months and not be able to make his regular income to pay the regular living expenses, such as bills and food for him, my mom, and my grandmother.
And to make things worse, my parents don’t have any savings or retirement money saved that they can pull from.
And I don’t have any savings to pull from to help them either at this time; since my partner and I have invested everything we have into our business.
We’re told that he moves to the very top of the liver transplant list in mid February, and it’s likely he’ll be accepted to get the transplant almost immediately after.
So now my family is in dire need to come up with the funds ASAP in order to make this liver transplant possible.
We’ve calculated that my parents need to come up with at extra $20,000 in order to make it through this health crisis.
$10,000 for liver transplant
$6,000 for rent to stay at the hospital
$4,000 for living expenses/bills/food, etc. for a 3 to 4 month period since he won’t be able to make an income
If you have any extra change or resources that you would be willing to donate to my parents, it would mean the world to us and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
With so much love and gratitude,
Zach Bulls
PS: You can read more about my dad in this Temple Daily Telegram article.
Fundraising team: Team Bobby (4)
Zach Bulls
Organizer
Austin, TX
Sabrina Arnold
Team member
Clarissa Sanders
Team member
Sarah Colon
Team member
