Meet Joshua and help him get his life back! Joshua Lear is an outgoing, fun, loving, amazing father, and hard worker! His family needs him!

Over 8 years ago, it started with a cancer scare as his blood levels were horrible, and he had an extremely large spleen with a fatty liver. He went to a liver doctor who did a biopsy and all the tests she could do, but still no cause was found. He began seeing hematology for his extremely low blood counts, followed by bone marrow testing and any other tests they could think of! His liver then began to show cirrhosis (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease), and his spleen grew even larger with a clot now in it. He has developed ascites and esophageal varices. Becoming neutropenic with his WBC going below 1 and his platelets below 20 has caused him to have frequent hospital stays more and more now.

He finally got in with a hepatologist, Dr. Faust at UPMC Presby, who let him know he has a M.E.L.D score of 15 as of now and qualifies to actively search for a living liver donor. On April 7th, he will be meeting with the transplant team that consists of about 10 different departments over several days to go over everything and also any additional testing done. Things are becoming very costly: stays up there are $93 a night, parking, gas, food, and care for the kids. Definitely an emotional and financial rollercoaster!

His 17-year-old daughter, at 14, started to develop some of these things and is also undergoing testing at Children’s to find what is underlying that is clearly hereditary. Even if you can't help financially, just sharing means so much! His liver is killing him, and he will not get better until he finds a donor match. He needs a healthy O blood type donor. The website to apply to be a donor walks you through things to see if you qualify: livingdonorreg.upmc.com