From Struggles to Strength: Help My Brother Rebuild and Heal

Dear friends and family,

I am reaching out to you during an incredibly challenging time. My brother, Patrick, has been fighting for his life these past 5 months. Patrick discovered he had cirrhosis of the liver. Cirrhosis of the liver is a late-stage scarring (fibrosis) of the liver that occurs as a result of various liver diseases due to many different factors and had likely been developing over time. Five months ago, after not hearing from my brother as much, my father and I both got a call from my sister-in-law, Stefanie, saying how he hasn’t been able to get out of bed, he had jaundice, and looked very sick from what we thought was alcohol withdrawals. After that, Patrick made the brave decision to seek rehabilitation for his long battle with alcohol dependency.

This battle began after the loss of our mother during our childhood, which ripped our family apart. As we got older, loss became a lot more familiar, losing family and friends at such a young age, contributing to Patrick’s decision to drink.

Patrick has worked in a construction union for many years, providing for his family, which includes his fiancée and 3 beautiful daughters. Prior to Patrick’s excruciating battle with his health, he and his beautiful family faced additional hardships moving into an apartment that unexpectedly had so many issues, including an overflowing cesspool that leaked into their entire living space, damaging almost all of their belongings. Despite all of this, Patrick completed rehab determined to reclaim his life. He went into Saint Charles Rehab, and every day he seemed better and better. There was finally hope for him to be able to turn his life around. As soon as he came out of rehab, his body became swollen to the point of developing water blisters. He couldn’t even walk up a flight of stairs, his skin and eyes still looked yellow, and he was having trouble breathing, so he had to return to the hospital immediately for further treatment. After many tests, the doctors found that Patrick had a respiratory infection on top of the cirrhosis of the liver and found out the severity of his situation. The hospital said the words that he and everyone who loves him had been dreading: “Patrick needs a new liver.” Even with the shocking news, throughout this challenging journey, he remained dedicated to change, participating in AA meetings via Zoom even while wearing oxygen masks and concentrating on recovering not only his addiction, but his mind, his body, and then his life. Unfortunately, his situation took an even more drastic turn as he developed pneumonia and a severe infection in his lungs, ultimately resulting in kidney failure, requiring full kidney dialysis, four blood transfusions, and he had to be intubated. He was put into a coma and was placed on life support as his condition became critical. Despite the overwhelming odds, if anyone knows Patrick, they know that he has a love for life and a strong will to fight for it. With his remarkable strength and resilience, many tubes, breathing masks, and more machines than our family could ever imagine, he woke up and was able to communicate with us briefly, but the battle was far from over. Unfortunately, another infection followed, and he was intubated once again. Each time he wakes up, he faces confusion and disorientation, but we are grateful to see signs of improvement, and the infection is finally gone. However, being bedridden in the hospital for an extreme amount of time, he is still unable to walk and requires extensive rehabilitation.

Patrick is a devoted father to three beautiful daughters: Ava (10), Rylie (9), and Madisyn (7), who are strong, smart, amazing little girls with so much love to give and full of potential. All his girls, including my sister-in-law, the mother of the children and his life partner, miss him dearly. They are part of the motivation behind his fight to recover.

As you can imagine, the medical bills for Patrick’s care have become overwhelming. Five months of three hospitals, numerous intubations, infections, and blood transfusions. Many days of confusion and desperation. Along with the unfortunate problems of losing many precious belongings that he and his family had from the previous cesspool leakage and continuous issues in their home that were out of their control, Your generosity can make a significant difference in providing him with the treatment, rehabilitation, and support he desperately needs to recover and regain his independence. Concentrating on something we think is so simple, like walking, is taken for granted. The process is excruciatingly long and hard, considering all he wants after everything he’s been through is to be able to be home with his family, safe and grateful to start a new life.

Thank you for taking the time to read his story. Any contribution, no matter how small, will help with this journey. Please share this page with others who may want to support my brother and his beautiful family during this difficult time.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Melissa Burke