Anoop's Fight for a Life-Saving Liver

Hello, dear friends,

Many of you may not know that I became a missionary at the age of 18 while in college. After earning a master’s degree in social administration and missions, I worked as a teacher and participated in various educational and social development initiatives for multiethnic and multilingual communities. Eventually, I began a career in IT in India before immigrating to the U.S.

Today, I stand here with the hope that each of you may find a reason to care about a social cause. I encourage you to express solidarity and support for someone in your family, at your workplace, or in your community, especially when they are fighting for a “second chance to live.”

**Solidarity and Support for a Second Chance at Life**

I am currently facing a significant health challenge and need a liver transplant for a second chance at life.

For the past 12 years, I have been living with chronic nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, now known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), as well as hypertension due to type 2 diabetes mellitus. My health has significantly worsened over the past four years, leading to frequent visits to the emergency room for immediate treatment and banding surgeries for esophageal varices.

The buildup of excess fat in my liver cells, combined with portal vein thrombosis (which restricts blood flow to the liver), has caused extensive damage, resulting in end-stage liver cirrhosis. This has led to complications affecting multiple organs, including the gallbladder, spleen, and lungs.

I have been on the active liver transplant waiting list at UC Health University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus since August of this year. A few months back, I was prepared for surgery when a potentially suitable liver match was canceled just minutes before anesthesia was administered due to organ quality issues. Following this, I experienced severe abdominal pain, ascites, inflammation, and acute failure of the gallbladder, necessitating emergency treatment that required a two-week hospital stay in November.

Managing all of this has been overwhelming for my wife and me, especially because we have three young children: two boys, ages 9 and 5, and a baby girl who turned 2 in November. We have been unable to work since September of this year, making it challenging to balance their schooling and care during this difficult time.

After learning about opportunities to become a living organ donor at UC Health University of Colorado, my wife signed up immediately. She completed a thorough pre-liver evaluation in October. The living donor transplant team reviewed her test results and approved her as my living liver donor. She is now my only source of hope for a second chance at life.

In November, my wife took our children back to India, as we do not have any family in the U.S. to support us during surgeries and recovery. It was extremely difficult to find someone to come here because of visa availability. Our surgeries are now scheduled on January 6, 2025.

We are deeply worried about several factors, primarily due to the lack of support in the U.S. and the care of our children, who are 8,993 miles away. As we will be unable to work for the next 3 to 6 months, we are anxious about the financial implications of such significant surgeries and post-transplant recovery, including the lifelong medications I will need.

This fundraising campaign aims to share updates on our transplant journey and raise awareness about the importance of living organ donation. We hope to inspire others to consider becoming living organ donors for those in need of a second chance at life.

Please share this campaign with anyone who might be interested. If you or anyone you know has questions about our transplant update, feel free to reach out to me through this platform.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story. Your support during this critical time means a lot to us.

Many thanks, 

Anoop Krishnan