Help us lay Dan to rest

Today we lost the backbone of our family. My husband and the father of my girls. We do not know what we are going to do without him but we do know he would not want us to quit living. Today I am doing something I never thought I would have to do. I am asking for help in laying Dan to rest as well as help in the coming months. We will get to a stable place but will need the time to mourn our loss. Any savings we had has been depleted and we need your help. 

As many of you know Daniel's battle with illness started over a year ago. Dan had esophogeal varices that ruptured on 9/10/2020, and we almost lost him then. Our prayers were answered and he came back to us. With this we were told that Dan was in the beginning stages of liver failure. He worked for just over a year to get healthier and to quit drinking. He hit 1 year sober on 9/7/2021, we could not be more proud of him.

On 9/3/2021 he was diagnosed with COVID. He has the typical sore throat, fever & chills. We had no idea the havoc it would cause to his body. On day 10 of quarantine 9/13/2021 Dan had a COVID related stroke. We thought it couldn't get any worse. Boy were we wrong. 

On 9/14/2021 Dan has a seizure that lasted aprox 8 minutes. He slipped into a Coma and he was once again at deaths door. Again, our prayers were answered and he was on the mends. Again we knew that this could not get any worse but, we were so wrong.

On 11/21/2021 I brought Dan to the hospital with extreme belly pain that I thought may have been related to his liver. The hospital performed a CT scan of his belly and found a 10cm by 11 cm mass on his right kidney that they believed was the cause of his pain. Doctors were pretty sure it was cancerous but wanted to run some tests to be certain. 

On 11/22/2021 Dan was diagnosed with Non- Hodgkins lymphoma, a very treatable cancer. Again we knew he was going to get through it. A bone marrow biopsy and kidney biopsy was done and he was officially diagnosed with B-cell Burkitt Non Hodgkin lymphoma. We were released from the hospital on Thanksgiving and were planning on starting Chemo by Monday or Tuesday. Needless to say, it did not end there.

11/28/2021 I called 911 to have Dan taken to the hospital for severe confusion. He was diagnosed with an upper GI bleed and extremely elevated ammonia levels (208). That being said, both were fairly easy to fix, or so we thought.

11/29/2021 We were informed that Dan was in liver failure and that was the cause of his elevated ammonia levels. With that news our world was flipped upside down. Since Dan was in liver failure but had a very aggressive form of cancer we were in bad shape. If Dan received Chemo he would essentially become septic due to the liver not processing the medications and he would die. If he didn't get Chemo and cure the cancer, he would die.

Dan reached the point of no return. We had to make a decision on what to do next. I knew he did not want to suffer and he just wanted to die peacefully at home. After a day the girls and I decided enough was enough. Dan fought long and hard for his family and it was time for us to fight hard to honor his last wishes.

Everyone at Sierra Vista was amazing at explaining our options and were very respectful of our wishes all the while giving me and his family time to let it sink in before we made a decision. 

On 11/30/2021 I signed the papers to bring him home on hospice. Here is where the amazing staff at Sierra Vista made a bad situation a bitter sweet one. After almost 19 years of being together we were going to get married.  Staff set up the courtyard with flowers, music, food, cake, and more. All on there own, for us, can you believe it. I was finally going to be Katherine Mansker.

12/1/2021 I married the love of my life in an intimate ceremony surrounded by our loved ones. Shortly after, Dan was brought home to be in peace and to live out his last days with his family. 

12/2/2021 Just 1 day from coming home, Dan's body was unable to keep fighting. He passed away at 4:58pm surrounded by his whole family. 

We cannot begin to express the gratitude we have for what everyone has done for our family. We are forever grateful for the prayers, thoughts, and shoulders we cried on. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers in the days and months to come. A prayer is worth a million bucks and we will be grateful for that. We ask that you give only what you can and share this if possible. From my family to yours, Thank You.