This fundraiser is for my friend Tish and her family. Tish's son Griffin has been in and out of the hospital since last year, and the bills are starting to roll in. He's just undergone major surgery, and still needs more surgery in the next few months.

Griffin has a chronic condition called ulcerative colitis. It's an autoimmune disease than sometimes lies dormant, but when it flares up, is very painful, causes internal bleeding, and makes it difficult or impossible to keep food or water down. Griffin has been dealing with flare-up after flare-up. The episodes have been so debilitating that he's had to take this year off college.

Griffin has had more than ten separate stays in the hospital, some lasting more than two weeks. During each visit, he’s been hooked up to IVs for hydration and nutrition, and he’s needed multiple blood transfusions. His medical team tried three ulcerative colitis different drugs. The last one, a new drug that was supposed to be very effective, gave him a mini stroke.

After an episode when he nearly died last Sunday, he had to have emergency surgery to remove his colon. The recovery will be long, and he has two more surgeries in front of him, once he regains some strength.

Griffin has met these challenges with a sense of humor and quiet strength. Tish and Loren have both missed work to be with him in the hospital, while Griffin's little sister Eliza was asking why he can't play with her.

Tish is originally from the UK, where health care works very differently, so it didn’t even occur to her or Loren to ask for financial help until I brought it up. (She's just passed her US citizenship test! What could be more American than crowdfunding for help paying medical bills?)

Any money that we raise will go directly toward Griffin's medical bills. The family already owes tens of thousands of dollars, and Griffin is not yet stabilized. This growing financial burden is causing Tish & Loren to worry about money almost as much as they’re worrying about Griffin.

My hope is that this financial support will allow them some peace of mind, so that they have all the energy they need to concentrate on helping Griffin get better.

If you can donate, that's wonderful, and we're so grateful. If you can't donate, you can still help by sharing this fundraiser among your community.

Thank you for your help!