*THANK YOU FOR ALL DONATIONS!! Our father passed peacefully, AT HOME, on 8/12/21*

Thank you for visiting our GoFundMe page. Our father has been through a lot over the years, and this past year has been the most eventful, and hardest, of all.

Our father lost both of his kidneys to cancer many years ago.  Since then, he has been on dialysis, which until last October (2020), was going well. He was also on the kidney transplant list for about six years, with no donor ever found.  

Things changed in October, when we realized that the medication used to simulate the kidney's natural signal to the bone marrow to produce new red blood cells stopped working. His body developed antibodies to this drug, which meant that his body was now attacking the very thing meant to help him.

Because of this, Dad became very anemic, and required multiple blood transfusions. He's had dozens of transfusions since October, and still requires blood every 2-3 weeks. He's spent more days in the hospital than out of the hospital over the last 7 months, ending with a  6 week horrendous stay at inpatient rehab -- all of which has been extremely difficult for him (and for all of us). His physical and mental (he is now officially diagnosed with dementia and delirium) condition has declined so rapidly that we are struggling to keep up and make sure that we are giving him everything he needs. 

Ultimately, we decided to bring Dad home. He was not improving at rehab, and he just kept asking to come home. We are doing everything we can now to give him the best care possible at home. 

The good news is, his health is already improving since being home this past week. He’s having less episodes of confusion, and he’s even smiling and laughing sometimes! He also went from refusing to eat or drink at all at rehab — to having a very healthy appetite at home! 

Currently, we have a healthcare worker with Dad 7 hours per day, which is $5,400 a month, and it is not enough. 

It is incredibly difficult for us to ask for help in this way, but we have now realized that he absolutely needs 24 hour care in order to remain at home, which costs approximately $19,000 per month.

We appreciate any and all support given during this time! This is a new situation for all of us and we are just taking it day by day.

Tom Jr., Erin, & Kathryn