My name is Jennifer Gonzalez-Diaz, I am Jerry's wife and mother to our 3 young children. Three years ago Jerry was diagnosed with Stage 4 liver cirrhosis and gallstones.  For the past 2yrs his health has greatly declined. It's been very painful to see him get weaker and weaker.  Our children keep asking if Daddy is going to be okay, but the truth of the matter is that we don’t know. They cry daily and pray for their Daddy to get better soon. As I write this, he’s  admitted at Kaiser Permanente because his body keeps retaining fluids. He is swollen from his chest to his toes and can hardly catch his breath. This nightmare has taken a toll on our lives. His parents recently coordinated a trip for us to Mexico to meet with doctors there for a 2nd opinion and to see family who he hadn’t seen for 20yrs+.  2021 is totally unknown and his family wanted to spend time with him.  Through it all, my husband continues to keep a smile on his face for us.  We have faith that we will get through this nightmare and end up victorious. We have mountains of bills stacking up and more to come.  Doctors say he needs a new liver.  It's so unfair because if you know my husband, he doesn't even drink alcohol.  Getting a liver transplant is not easy, much less in California.  The waiting list for a new liver here go for many years.  Kaiser says if we really don’t want him to die, the best option is to go out of state (Arizona). The problem with going out of state, is that his medical insurance will not cover the procedure.  It's a very very expensive surgery. In addition to needing a transplant, he's been diagnosed with Fatty Liver Disorder, Cirrhosis NonAlcoholic, Obesity, and Cholelithiasis (Gallstones).  He's always been the breadwinner for our family but he is no longer able to work. Doctors have disabled him completely. As a result of that, we are struggling financially. Jerry is a wonderful father, husband and friend.  He deserves to see our children grow up, graduate, get married, etc. Help us fight for his life. Kaiser has encouraged us to start fundraising right away because we don't know how much time we have. This is why I'm opening this GoFundMe page and giving you guys an insight as to what is going on with our family.  We hope you will share/forward this page to others so it reaches as many people as possible. THANK YOU in advance for any contribution you are able to provide. Every dollar counts. If you would like to reach out to us in a different way with your contribution, please do so. Phone, Text and/or email.  Thank you again for all your support. Our entire family will be forever grateful. GOD BLESS!!!




Additional Info:  A liver transplant is a surgical procedure that removes a liver that no longer functions properly (liver failure) and replaces it with a healthy liver from a deceased donor or a portion of a healthy liver from a living donor. Your liver is your largest internal organ and performs several critical functions. Liver transplant is usually reserved as a treatment option for people who have significant complications due to end-stage chronic liver disease. Liver transplant may also be a treatment option in rare cases of sudden failure of a previously healthy liver. The number of people waiting for a liver transplant greatly exceeds the number of available deceased-donor livers. Living-donor liver transplant is an alternative to waiting for a deceased-donor liver to become available. Living-donor liver transplant is possible because the human liver regenerates and returns to its normal size shortly after surgical removal of part of the organ.  When disease or injury damages the liver, a transplant offers a chance at longer life.  Several factors that go into deciding if a patient qualifies as a candidate for liver transplant surgery. For those who qualify, success rates are promising—the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that about 80 to 85% of transplanted livers are fully functioning one year after transplant. #liverytransplant #surgey #livercirrhosis #hospitalbills