Support Tony's Liver Transplant
Donation protected
Today is June 19th and it's my cousin Tony's 48th birthday. Unfortunately, Tony is not in a position to do much celebrating right now and I would love to give him the one gift that he really needs this year - a new healthy liver. Since I can't make that magically happen, I am doing one of the only things I can do to help. I have started a go fund me to help him with medical and living expenses while he is waiting for a new liver and recovering after his transplant. Tony is not one to ask for help from people - it has taken a few months to talk him into letting me do this - but with his permission I am sharing his story.
For the past several years, Tony has been dealing with some unexplained health issues. He would have pain and swelling in his feet and legs, he would bruise and fatigue easily and ended up in the hospital a couple of times for various issues. At the time, none of the doctors were able to figure out exactly what was going on. His symptoms would come and go; sometimes he would get a little better for a while and then things would get worse again. At one point, the doctors thought there were issues with the veins in his legs and told him that he should stay off of his feet for a while. Since Tony is self-employed as an owner and gaffer at Texas Film and Light in Austin Texas, staying off of his feet was not really possible. When you are self employed, if you don't work, you don't get paid. Last year, Tony ended up in the hospital again after contracting Covid and getting pretty sick. He spent several days in the hospital undergoing a bunch of tests until the doctors found problems with his liver and a previously undiagnosed heart condition. Tony's heart condition has been causing a decrease of blood flow to his liver which has caused extensive damage to his liver. He is now in need of a liver transplant.
Tony has completed the pre-Transplant program at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. He will be put on the active liver transplant list in the next two weeks at which point he needs to be within 6 hours of the hospital. Obviously, Tony cannot stay in Austin so he will be moving temporarily to Florida while he waits for his new liver. Since finding out what was wrong with him, Tony has had countless doctor visits, medications, tests, trips back and forth to Jacksonville, etc. He has only been able to eat a very specific diet in order to keep his liver as healthy as possible while going through the pre-transplant program. Tony has to eat 85 grams of lean protein each day and cannot have any salt, sugar, white flour or bread, canned food, white rice, artificial sweeteners, etc. - so basically only lean meat and veggies. This has become even more difficult as the prices of food continue to rise. In the last year, Tony has only been able to work about 5 days. He is working to get SSDI but that is a long process and in the mean time he has used up most of his savings just living and paying insurance premiums and copays. We are hopeful that after he moves to Florida a new liver will be found soon, but the reality is that it can take a while for a good match to come in. The good news is that Mayo in Jacksonville has a shorter wait time for livers than most of the rest of the transplant programs in the country but it could take anywhere from 2 days to 2 years. During the time he is living in Florida, Tony will continue to have bills to pay for his house in Austin as well as costs associated with living in Florida.
After the transplant, Tony will be in the hospital for at least a week, likely longer, and then will need to stay within 30 minutes of the transplant center for another 4-6 weeks while they make sure that his body is not rejecting the new liver. He will need round the clock care for that time as he will have almost daily doctor's appointments and a pretty complicated medication regimen. After that, Tony will be able to move back to Austin but there will still be follow up appointments with the doctors in Jacksonville. Beyond fears related to the transplant and heart operation, Tony does not have any idea when he will be able to return to work. As you can imagine, along with a lot of emotional support, encouragement, and positive thoughts, Tony will likely need some financial support to navigate the continued time off of work and the large medical bills he will be faced with. Tony is the kind of person who doesn't like to ask for help but would be there in a heartbeat to help any of his family and friends. I know that allowing me to do this has been an extremely difficult decision for Tony, but we are at the point that he can no longer do all of this on his own.
Thanks for reading and sharing - any and all prayers, positive thoughts and good vibes are appreciated. All donations will be used to help Tony pay for medical and living expenses.
Barb
For the past several years, Tony has been dealing with some unexplained health issues. He would have pain and swelling in his feet and legs, he would bruise and fatigue easily and ended up in the hospital a couple of times for various issues. At the time, none of the doctors were able to figure out exactly what was going on. His symptoms would come and go; sometimes he would get a little better for a while and then things would get worse again. At one point, the doctors thought there were issues with the veins in his legs and told him that he should stay off of his feet for a while. Since Tony is self-employed as an owner and gaffer at Texas Film and Light in Austin Texas, staying off of his feet was not really possible. When you are self employed, if you don't work, you don't get paid. Last year, Tony ended up in the hospital again after contracting Covid and getting pretty sick. He spent several days in the hospital undergoing a bunch of tests until the doctors found problems with his liver and a previously undiagnosed heart condition. Tony's heart condition has been causing a decrease of blood flow to his liver which has caused extensive damage to his liver. He is now in need of a liver transplant.
Tony has completed the pre-Transplant program at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. He will be put on the active liver transplant list in the next two weeks at which point he needs to be within 6 hours of the hospital. Obviously, Tony cannot stay in Austin so he will be moving temporarily to Florida while he waits for his new liver. Since finding out what was wrong with him, Tony has had countless doctor visits, medications, tests, trips back and forth to Jacksonville, etc. He has only been able to eat a very specific diet in order to keep his liver as healthy as possible while going through the pre-transplant program. Tony has to eat 85 grams of lean protein each day and cannot have any salt, sugar, white flour or bread, canned food, white rice, artificial sweeteners, etc. - so basically only lean meat and veggies. This has become even more difficult as the prices of food continue to rise. In the last year, Tony has only been able to work about 5 days. He is working to get SSDI but that is a long process and in the mean time he has used up most of his savings just living and paying insurance premiums and copays. We are hopeful that after he moves to Florida a new liver will be found soon, but the reality is that it can take a while for a good match to come in. The good news is that Mayo in Jacksonville has a shorter wait time for livers than most of the rest of the transplant programs in the country but it could take anywhere from 2 days to 2 years. During the time he is living in Florida, Tony will continue to have bills to pay for his house in Austin as well as costs associated with living in Florida.
After the transplant, Tony will be in the hospital for at least a week, likely longer, and then will need to stay within 30 minutes of the transplant center for another 4-6 weeks while they make sure that his body is not rejecting the new liver. He will need round the clock care for that time as he will have almost daily doctor's appointments and a pretty complicated medication regimen. After that, Tony will be able to move back to Austin but there will still be follow up appointments with the doctors in Jacksonville. Beyond fears related to the transplant and heart operation, Tony does not have any idea when he will be able to return to work. As you can imagine, along with a lot of emotional support, encouragement, and positive thoughts, Tony will likely need some financial support to navigate the continued time off of work and the large medical bills he will be faced with. Tony is the kind of person who doesn't like to ask for help but would be there in a heartbeat to help any of his family and friends. I know that allowing me to do this has been an extremely difficult decision for Tony, but we are at the point that he can no longer do all of this on his own.
Thanks for reading and sharing - any and all prayers, positive thoughts and good vibes are appreciated. All donations will be used to help Tony pay for medical and living expenses.
Barb
Organiser and beneficiary
Barb Scott
Organiser
Plover, WI
Tony Brummer
Beneficiary