Help Tom Hart get his life back

Help Tom Hart (my dad) get his life back!

My name is Rachel Bowden and my dad has a very severe form of Crohn's disease, which is an autoimmune disease that affects the intestines, essentially making his body attack itself. While I remember times where we would spend days tubing at the lake, fishing trips, and home projects together, he's gotten sicker and sicker, to the point where he is only able to work a few days a month, and hospital trips have become the norm. Many days a month, he struggles to walk, or eat. He has had revision surgeries to take out parts of his intestines, been septic from infections, gone throught chemo to lower his immune response and relied on PIC lines with TPN for nutrition due to complete abdominal blockages within the past couple of years. As a side affect of the TPN, he developed multiple pulmonary embolism that required blood thinners and hospitalizations. He is semi-stable after the last surgeries, but still lives every day in pain. Now that I've explained how he got here...I have good news!

There is an experimental treatment that could put him into remission long-term and give back the Husband, Father and Grandpa his family needs as well as greatly improve his physical and mental health...but it comes at a cost. The treatment is harsh, and he will need to essentially reside in Pittsburgh for the duration of treatment, a stem cell transplant. He will need to stay there 3-6 months at a minimum, and my mom will need to be with him for the most critical parts. Bills will still need to be paid, and lodging secured for the outpatient portion of treatment, as well as travel expenses to and from Pittsburgh. The family already has many medical bills, and My dad (Tom) has not been able to work much at all in his shop for the past couple of years. I would love to see some of the financial burden lifted, and have my dad back, healthy.

We would love financial support and prayers as they navigate local appointments to go over the medical records that need to be sent for the medical trial, insurance approval, and hopefully acceptance in the medical study/trial. So far, the treatment has 100% success at achieving remission in Crohn's patients, and I would love to see my dad be able to live life without pain!