Help the Helpers - Liver Transplant
Donation protected
The Need
Special forces military veteran, dad, and husband is need of a liver transplant. He has been in declining health for months, unable to work and provide for his family. Doctors have now told them that his only chance at survival is to remain hospitalized while he waits for a match for the desperately needed liver transplant. He does have insurance, but since he has been unable to work for months, costs are mounting, and the expected expenses surrounding his impending transplant are quite high.
Even after the military insurance, they will have costs of at least $150 a day for medical expenses, plus about $21/day for, his wife, Teresa visiting due to the distance she must travel to the hospital and the cost of parking. (I included the cost of a meal here because with so much running back and forth, she will most likely have to buy some food along the way.)
That’s an additional $5,130/month minimally that they will need to pay - in addition to the lost wages from both the veteran and his wife. With mortgage and utility expenses around $2,300/month, they are in great need of help so that they don’t lose their home.
Who You Are Helping
For security reasons, this dad needs to remain anonymous, but we can tell you that he served on active duty for 23 years, including tours in Desert Storm and Iraq, deploying countless times during both operations. He is the proud dad of a daughter, Caitlin, and son, Colton, who are both young adults trying to make their own way in the world. Both kids have jobs, but their incomes don’t give them much extra to help their parents.
His wife, Teresa, is currently the breadwinner for the family after staying home and raising their children for more than a decade. Friend and confidant to many, Teresa has provided shelter and a shoulder to countless teens over the years, many of them living with Teresa’s family for days or weeks at a time. Teresa has always been the first to volunteer her services, and has touched so many lives - in big and small ways. From sitting with cancer patients in the middle of the night to taking in scared teens to being a Wish Granter for Make-A-Wish, Teresa selflessly gives her time and attention to others. Now that their family is in crisis, she needs to be able to give that time and attention to her husband.
Why This Is Urgent
This past week, the head of the transplant team was in every day. The doctor told him "You scared us. In all my years as a doctor, I've never seen someone come in as sick as you were on Tuesday and live to tell about it.”
In addition, they have now been told (by the same doctor and his transplant team) that he is too ill to leave the hospital. He'll have to stay here until the transplant in order to survive. They are expediting the transplant evaluation process and hope to get him listed one day next week. Then, they wait for a viable organ to become available. While they wait, hospital staff will be working to get him stable enough and strong enough to withstand the 10 to 16-hour surgery.
Once the transplant is complete, he'll be in the hospital for another 3 to 6 weeks while they make sure his body doesn't reject the liver. Once released from the hospital, he'll have to stay in a hospitality house beside the hospital for 2 to 3 months. He won't be able to go home because they live too far away. He has to be within minutes of the hospital because, apparently, there WILL be complications. It's expected.
In Teresa’s words, "I understand why he has to stay there, but emotionally my heart wants to take him home to be comfortable and able to sleep in his own bed and have the kids and his puppy dog around him. That was the plan - get through the evaluation, get listed, go home and wait for the call. This was NOT in the plan at all. Yes, I know. God laughs when we make plans. We're not in control. Harsh reminders can seem really cruel at times, though.”
We have to be so careful with what we say about him. I wish we could draw a better picture of the sacrifices made while he served and the horrible places he's been. It just seems so unfair that, after all he's done in his military career, he's finally reached a point when he should be able to enjoy family, home and life in general...but instead he's in yet another life and death battle. It's heartbreaking.
We wish that being a good person would save you from the harsh realities of life, but as we all know, that isn’t the case. All we can tell you is that this family has done so much to help others, and it would be really awesome if the world could show some love back to them right now.
Every Gift Helps
We hope you are inspired by this family and want to give generously, but maybe you are thinking that you can’t afford much and maybe what you can give won’t help. Well, $2 will buy them a parking pass at the hospital for the day. And $12 would cover gas for the day. And if you can make that a monthly gift, then you could help see them through the next several months of hospital stays and treatments.
Thank you for reading about our wonderful friends, and we hope that you can make a contribution to their fund today.
Special forces military veteran, dad, and husband is need of a liver transplant. He has been in declining health for months, unable to work and provide for his family. Doctors have now told them that his only chance at survival is to remain hospitalized while he waits for a match for the desperately needed liver transplant. He does have insurance, but since he has been unable to work for months, costs are mounting, and the expected expenses surrounding his impending transplant are quite high.
Even after the military insurance, they will have costs of at least $150 a day for medical expenses, plus about $21/day for, his wife, Teresa visiting due to the distance she must travel to the hospital and the cost of parking. (I included the cost of a meal here because with so much running back and forth, she will most likely have to buy some food along the way.)
That’s an additional $5,130/month minimally that they will need to pay - in addition to the lost wages from both the veteran and his wife. With mortgage and utility expenses around $2,300/month, they are in great need of help so that they don’t lose their home.
Who You Are Helping
For security reasons, this dad needs to remain anonymous, but we can tell you that he served on active duty for 23 years, including tours in Desert Storm and Iraq, deploying countless times during both operations. He is the proud dad of a daughter, Caitlin, and son, Colton, who are both young adults trying to make their own way in the world. Both kids have jobs, but their incomes don’t give them much extra to help their parents.
His wife, Teresa, is currently the breadwinner for the family after staying home and raising their children for more than a decade. Friend and confidant to many, Teresa has provided shelter and a shoulder to countless teens over the years, many of them living with Teresa’s family for days or weeks at a time. Teresa has always been the first to volunteer her services, and has touched so many lives - in big and small ways. From sitting with cancer patients in the middle of the night to taking in scared teens to being a Wish Granter for Make-A-Wish, Teresa selflessly gives her time and attention to others. Now that their family is in crisis, she needs to be able to give that time and attention to her husband.
Why This Is Urgent
This past week, the head of the transplant team was in every day. The doctor told him "You scared us. In all my years as a doctor, I've never seen someone come in as sick as you were on Tuesday and live to tell about it.”
In addition, they have now been told (by the same doctor and his transplant team) that he is too ill to leave the hospital. He'll have to stay here until the transplant in order to survive. They are expediting the transplant evaluation process and hope to get him listed one day next week. Then, they wait for a viable organ to become available. While they wait, hospital staff will be working to get him stable enough and strong enough to withstand the 10 to 16-hour surgery.
Once the transplant is complete, he'll be in the hospital for another 3 to 6 weeks while they make sure his body doesn't reject the liver. Once released from the hospital, he'll have to stay in a hospitality house beside the hospital for 2 to 3 months. He won't be able to go home because they live too far away. He has to be within minutes of the hospital because, apparently, there WILL be complications. It's expected.
In Teresa’s words, "I understand why he has to stay there, but emotionally my heart wants to take him home to be comfortable and able to sleep in his own bed and have the kids and his puppy dog around him. That was the plan - get through the evaluation, get listed, go home and wait for the call. This was NOT in the plan at all. Yes, I know. God laughs when we make plans. We're not in control. Harsh reminders can seem really cruel at times, though.”
We have to be so careful with what we say about him. I wish we could draw a better picture of the sacrifices made while he served and the horrible places he's been. It just seems so unfair that, after all he's done in his military career, he's finally reached a point when he should be able to enjoy family, home and life in general...but instead he's in yet another life and death battle. It's heartbreaking.
We wish that being a good person would save you from the harsh realities of life, but as we all know, that isn’t the case. All we can tell you is that this family has done so much to help others, and it would be really awesome if the world could show some love back to them right now.
Every Gift Helps
We hope you are inspired by this family and want to give generously, but maybe you are thinking that you can’t afford much and maybe what you can give won’t help. Well, $2 will buy them a parking pass at the hospital for the day. And $12 would cover gas for the day. And if you can make that a monthly gift, then you could help see them through the next several months of hospital stays and treatments.
Thank you for reading about our wonderful friends, and we hope that you can make a contribution to their fund today.
Organizer and beneficiary
Amanda Haddock
Organizer
Kechi, KS
Teresa Armer
Beneficiary
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