Help Ed Wojtulski, RN Fight Kidney Failure
Donation protected
Eddie Wojtulski (our dad) is a loving husband to our mom Laura, doting father of 4 girls (Julia, Sarah, Lauren & Hannah), beloved Papa of 4 grandchildren (Jadyn, Jonathan, Olivia & Noah), brother to 4 siblings, loyal friend to many and Registered Nurse of 25 years, currently employed in the OR at the VAMC Hospital in Buffalo, NY.
Anyone who knows him can attest to his kindness, generosity, work ethic and his unconditional willingness to help a person in need. He is known by his girls as “director of all things good” and the fixer of all things broken because there is not a thing he won’t do to make sure his loved ones are happy, taken care of & comfortable – even if it makes him less so.
On October 21 2019, Dad sent himself to the hospital for chest pains. By the Grace of God, he woke up on his 54th birthday after undergoing open heart surgery & a quadruple bypass with a second chance at life. After a very bumpy road to recovery the 3 months following, – Dad was finally healthy, thriving and had just returned to work on January 20 2020. After watching him get through that, we were confident that the worst was behind us.
However, on Thursday Feb 13 2020 things took an unexpected turn. Dad came home early from work due to severe flank pain – he was sure he was passing a kidney stone. Friday and Saturday there was no improvement and no stone. By Sunday morning, he was still very much in pain and became increasingly disoriented and confused. My mom rushed him to the ER knowing that something wasn’t right. Once being evaluated, it was discovered that he had suddenly gone into renal failure and it had progressed quickly. He has been hospitalized since. Kidney specialists are perplexed by his case because he has had no previous kidney function issues and, needless to say – we as a family, are heart-broken to see him in this condition AGAIN.
This time around, his hospital stay began with – a UTI, possible pneumonia, right kidney failure, left kidney shrunken, sluggish and barely working. Worst yet – the infection had made its way into his blood. He has undergone countless blood draws, blood cultures, & CT scans in search of answers. A percutaneous nephrostomy (kidney drain) has been placed, an intravenous catheter was inserted in his jugular for dialysis which he has required 7 times in his 10 day stay. He is on oxygen, IV antibiotics, Heparin & has so far received 2 units of blood through transfusion. He is finally out of the Intensive Care Unit but is not out of the woods yet. He is still spiking fevers and continues to have an elevated white blood count despite antibiotic treatment, indicating something else is going on, which is why testing continues. At present, there is no discharge date scheduled and no definitive prognosis on his condition. There is no plan of action or timeline for treatments necessary for his recovery until doctors can identify & treat the cause of the left kidney ailment and keep him stable & without infection. With many questions still unanswered, all we know for sure right now is that the road ahead is long.
When your kidneys are injured, they become unable to filter waste products from your blood. When your kidneys lose filtering ability, dangerous levels of toxins accumulate. The toxins affect the brain causing delirium, decreased cognitive function, reasoning, memory, and restlessness. This is what we are experiencing with Dad. According to doctors this can linger for quite some time. In this state, Dad requires a lot of help daily and my Mom has been the rock for our family, being his primary caretaker around the clock providing comfort, support, reminding him where he is and why, and being his voice with the doctors when he is confused.
During his lucid moments, (which have begun in the last day or so) – he is his normal Jokester self, poking fun at the nurses and showing them all tricks he’s learned in his tenure, he's positive and smiling and constantly trying to make sure everyone around him is taken care of, as it is in his nature. But now it is our turn to make sure he is taken care of.
Our Dad is a Registered Nurse at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center, which is a Federal facility, meaning he does not receive NYS disability. Because of this, he used all of his remaining 2019 personal & sick time and was forced to borrow 6 weeks of his 2020 Paid Time Off to cover his 3mo. recovery from CABG surgery in October. Generous coworkers at the hospital also donated some of their time. Unfortunately, those things did not cover expected earnings throughout the entire 3 months. Therefore, my dad started off 2020 behind, owing time worked to pay back those 6 weeks. He was only able to complete 17 full days of work since returning to full duty before being admitted to the hospital again in February. In addition, our Mom has already spent her PTO for his previous recovery. And upon Paid Family Leave approval, she will be bringing in a fraction of normal income. With this entirely unexpected disability taking him out of work yet again, there are very real financial concerns for the near future.
So, we are asking the community for help in supporting our parents through Dad’s fight. For anyone who knows my Dad, he is the person to bear the burden of another man’s problems before he asks for help with his own, he’s the man who would donate his kidney to a loved one without second thought, and give away the last dollar in his pocket to stranger.
All money donated will go towards hospital bills/copays, and household expenses to keep my parents afloat as my dad is on his leave of absence from work indefinitely. Any amount that you are able to contribute will help tremendously & be greatly appreciated. If you are unable to make a donation, even a simple “share” will make all the difference to us.
If you are uncomfortable submitting a donation online and would still like to contribute, email me via [email redacted] for a mailing address.
In the words of our dad “thank you, kindly.”
Sincerely,
The Wojtulski Girls
#TeamBatDad #BatDadStrong
Anyone who knows him can attest to his kindness, generosity, work ethic and his unconditional willingness to help a person in need. He is known by his girls as “director of all things good” and the fixer of all things broken because there is not a thing he won’t do to make sure his loved ones are happy, taken care of & comfortable – even if it makes him less so.
On October 21 2019, Dad sent himself to the hospital for chest pains. By the Grace of God, he woke up on his 54th birthday after undergoing open heart surgery & a quadruple bypass with a second chance at life. After a very bumpy road to recovery the 3 months following, – Dad was finally healthy, thriving and had just returned to work on January 20 2020. After watching him get through that, we were confident that the worst was behind us.
However, on Thursday Feb 13 2020 things took an unexpected turn. Dad came home early from work due to severe flank pain – he was sure he was passing a kidney stone. Friday and Saturday there was no improvement and no stone. By Sunday morning, he was still very much in pain and became increasingly disoriented and confused. My mom rushed him to the ER knowing that something wasn’t right. Once being evaluated, it was discovered that he had suddenly gone into renal failure and it had progressed quickly. He has been hospitalized since. Kidney specialists are perplexed by his case because he has had no previous kidney function issues and, needless to say – we as a family, are heart-broken to see him in this condition AGAIN.
This time around, his hospital stay began with – a UTI, possible pneumonia, right kidney failure, left kidney shrunken, sluggish and barely working. Worst yet – the infection had made its way into his blood. He has undergone countless blood draws, blood cultures, & CT scans in search of answers. A percutaneous nephrostomy (kidney drain) has been placed, an intravenous catheter was inserted in his jugular for dialysis which he has required 7 times in his 10 day stay. He is on oxygen, IV antibiotics, Heparin & has so far received 2 units of blood through transfusion. He is finally out of the Intensive Care Unit but is not out of the woods yet. He is still spiking fevers and continues to have an elevated white blood count despite antibiotic treatment, indicating something else is going on, which is why testing continues. At present, there is no discharge date scheduled and no definitive prognosis on his condition. There is no plan of action or timeline for treatments necessary for his recovery until doctors can identify & treat the cause of the left kidney ailment and keep him stable & without infection. With many questions still unanswered, all we know for sure right now is that the road ahead is long.
When your kidneys are injured, they become unable to filter waste products from your blood. When your kidneys lose filtering ability, dangerous levels of toxins accumulate. The toxins affect the brain causing delirium, decreased cognitive function, reasoning, memory, and restlessness. This is what we are experiencing with Dad. According to doctors this can linger for quite some time. In this state, Dad requires a lot of help daily and my Mom has been the rock for our family, being his primary caretaker around the clock providing comfort, support, reminding him where he is and why, and being his voice with the doctors when he is confused.
During his lucid moments, (which have begun in the last day or so) – he is his normal Jokester self, poking fun at the nurses and showing them all tricks he’s learned in his tenure, he's positive and smiling and constantly trying to make sure everyone around him is taken care of, as it is in his nature. But now it is our turn to make sure he is taken care of.
Our Dad is a Registered Nurse at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center, which is a Federal facility, meaning he does not receive NYS disability. Because of this, he used all of his remaining 2019 personal & sick time and was forced to borrow 6 weeks of his 2020 Paid Time Off to cover his 3mo. recovery from CABG surgery in October. Generous coworkers at the hospital also donated some of their time. Unfortunately, those things did not cover expected earnings throughout the entire 3 months. Therefore, my dad started off 2020 behind, owing time worked to pay back those 6 weeks. He was only able to complete 17 full days of work since returning to full duty before being admitted to the hospital again in February. In addition, our Mom has already spent her PTO for his previous recovery. And upon Paid Family Leave approval, she will be bringing in a fraction of normal income. With this entirely unexpected disability taking him out of work yet again, there are very real financial concerns for the near future.
So, we are asking the community for help in supporting our parents through Dad’s fight. For anyone who knows my Dad, he is the person to bear the burden of another man’s problems before he asks for help with his own, he’s the man who would donate his kidney to a loved one without second thought, and give away the last dollar in his pocket to stranger.
All money donated will go towards hospital bills/copays, and household expenses to keep my parents afloat as my dad is on his leave of absence from work indefinitely. Any amount that you are able to contribute will help tremendously & be greatly appreciated. If you are unable to make a donation, even a simple “share” will make all the difference to us.
If you are uncomfortable submitting a donation online and would still like to contribute, email me via [email redacted] for a mailing address.
In the words of our dad “thank you, kindly.”
Sincerely,
The Wojtulski Girls
#TeamBatDad #BatDadStrong
Co-organizers (3)
Lauren Wojtulski
Organizer
Buffalo, NY
Laura Ann Wojtulski
Beneficiary
Hannah Wojtulski
Co-organizer
Julia Christine Milligan
Co-organizer