Dave's Transplant Fund
Donation protected
TL;DR
Following a sudden transient ischemic attack (TIA) in the fall of 2018, my father David's health has trod a markedly downward path. As he stands today, Dave is in need of a combined liver and kidney transplant, but has been denied this life-saving procedure by the Mason Transplant Clinic at Piedmont Hospital. As he and I continue our search for a willing surgeon to take on David's case at Emory University, we look to you, the reader, for any and all help you can give to assist with the impending medical debt that will accrue as a result of this effort.
With your immediate help, in addition to grants and assistance from the Georgia Transplant Foundation, Dave can hopefully be more prepared to take on the tremendous medical debt from pre- and post-operative care, including prescription medications, specialist visits, physical and occupational therapy, and ongoing dialysis.
How We Got Here
What began with a case of slurred speech ended in dual organ failure, but the "why" is a lengthy process. David has been the lucky recipient of one organ already, a transplant from his younger brother, Benny Craig, back in 1987 at the Medical College of Georgia. That kidney lasted an incredible 32 years, but in 2018, that began to change. In September of that year David was hospitalized after experiencing a TIA, a type of stroke that lasts only for a brief moment or two, but hints at something more serious coming in the immediate future. In response, he was put on a daily aspirin and continued on with life as normal. All the while, however, David's creatinine level (a marker of kidney function) had slowly but persistently began to rise (creatinine is best kept low), alarming his nephrologist to the point of hospitalizing him to run a battery of tests to figure out why. These tests proved to be inconclusive, and David was sent home on a modified drug regimen.
The exploratory phase of diagnosing David's condition had only begun at this point, as later in 2019, ca. May-June, David was hospitalized again, only this time via the Emergency Room for acute respiratory failure. This alarmingly poor turn of health was the final straw, and resulted in a bittersweet duality: stepping back from work, and seeking expert diagnostics and care. Following this extreme incident, Dave made his way to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, where he was thoroughly evaluated over a period of months by a multifaceted team of specialists, who ultimately diagnosed him with Congenital Hepatic Fibrosis, a type of chronic and irreversible liver damage that had likely been caused by long-term treatment with the drug Azathioprine (a potent immunosuppressant). With the knowledge of the liver being behind the decline of Dave's remaining kidney, he then sought help at the Mason Transplant Clinic at Piedmont Hospital, who subsequently denied him a transplant. Their denial came as a shock to all involved, including much of David's care team, but it can't be looked at as final.
Today we move forward, looking to Emory University for a more fair assessment of David's candidacy for transplant, and spend our weeks with trips to the radiology department at the local hospital for regular paracenteses (draining of fluid from the belly, which collects because the liver and kidneys can't process fluid anymore), visits with physical therapists, and consultations with specialists across the various concentrations of medicine.
Following a sudden transient ischemic attack (TIA) in the fall of 2018, my father David's health has trod a markedly downward path. As he stands today, Dave is in need of a combined liver and kidney transplant, but has been denied this life-saving procedure by the Mason Transplant Clinic at Piedmont Hospital. As he and I continue our search for a willing surgeon to take on David's case at Emory University, we look to you, the reader, for any and all help you can give to assist with the impending medical debt that will accrue as a result of this effort.
With your immediate help, in addition to grants and assistance from the Georgia Transplant Foundation, Dave can hopefully be more prepared to take on the tremendous medical debt from pre- and post-operative care, including prescription medications, specialist visits, physical and occupational therapy, and ongoing dialysis.
How We Got Here
What began with a case of slurred speech ended in dual organ failure, but the "why" is a lengthy process. David has been the lucky recipient of one organ already, a transplant from his younger brother, Benny Craig, back in 1987 at the Medical College of Georgia. That kidney lasted an incredible 32 years, but in 2018, that began to change. In September of that year David was hospitalized after experiencing a TIA, a type of stroke that lasts only for a brief moment or two, but hints at something more serious coming in the immediate future. In response, he was put on a daily aspirin and continued on with life as normal. All the while, however, David's creatinine level (a marker of kidney function) had slowly but persistently began to rise (creatinine is best kept low), alarming his nephrologist to the point of hospitalizing him to run a battery of tests to figure out why. These tests proved to be inconclusive, and David was sent home on a modified drug regimen.
The exploratory phase of diagnosing David's condition had only begun at this point, as later in 2019, ca. May-June, David was hospitalized again, only this time via the Emergency Room for acute respiratory failure. This alarmingly poor turn of health was the final straw, and resulted in a bittersweet duality: stepping back from work, and seeking expert diagnostics and care. Following this extreme incident, Dave made his way to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, where he was thoroughly evaluated over a period of months by a multifaceted team of specialists, who ultimately diagnosed him with Congenital Hepatic Fibrosis, a type of chronic and irreversible liver damage that had likely been caused by long-term treatment with the drug Azathioprine (a potent immunosuppressant). With the knowledge of the liver being behind the decline of Dave's remaining kidney, he then sought help at the Mason Transplant Clinic at Piedmont Hospital, who subsequently denied him a transplant. Their denial came as a shock to all involved, including much of David's care team, but it can't be looked at as final.
Today we move forward, looking to Emory University for a more fair assessment of David's candidacy for transplant, and spend our weeks with trips to the radiology department at the local hospital for regular paracenteses (draining of fluid from the belly, which collects because the liver and kidneys can't process fluid anymore), visits with physical therapists, and consultations with specialists across the various concentrations of medicine.
Organizer
Jonathan Craig
Organizer
Cumming, GA
