Double transplant recipient needs help

I didn’t want to do this. My goal was to keep my situation private, sharing it with only a few people close to me … until I had won the battle. I needed upwards of $12,000, but that wasn't enough.

Now that I've rejoined the real world, I'm struggling to make ends meet. I'm still recovering, which makes it difficult to work. And bills keep piling up - both medical and every day. That happens when you lose more than $4,000 of your monthly income because you can't work.

 

The truth is, I was not well when I began this fundraiser. I needed help. I discovered in February that I needed a double transplant - a heart and kidney. Yep, sounded scary to me too. Fortunately, I was blessed to be on the transplant list for only two weeks before a match was found! 

 

Hi, my name is Alan Whitt; some know me, others don't.

I'm in semi-retirement after a 34-year career in journalism, mostly at newspapers but also five years at ESPN in Bristol, CT. Since I left the industry in 2011, I've worked various jobs ... including a tour guide and school bus driver for Gray Line of Tennessee, running cars for Avis at Nashville International Airport and even a DoorDash driver.

 

I found out I had congestive heart failure in 2009 on a trip to Las Vegas. My kidneys began to fail in 2015. It’s been up and down since then, but most people had no idea I was going through this. I looked healthy on the outside, but …

 

In the last two years, I’ve had one heart attack and two pacemaker/defibrillators planted in my chest. I got the second one after the first went off five times in 24 hours.

Along the way, I developed prostate cancer, which kept me hospitalized for 51 days with complications that almost took me out twice.

 

Things weren’t getting better. Through seven surgeries and multiple procedures since 2018, my kidneys suffered due to the trauma and mixture of drugs used to help me. I just finished my third stint in cardiac rehab to get my body back in shape. You have no idea how much you lose being hospitalized for long periods of time.

And did I mention that I needed diaphragm surgery to prepare me for the heart transplant? Seems my diaphragm was scrunched up and wouldn't have allowed room to insert a heart. That surgery was more painful than the transplants.

I’ve learned a lot about transplants since February 21. I hate someone died for me to live, but I promised whoever my donor was that I would make the most of this life-saving blessing.

 

Post-surgery at Ascension St. Thomas West, I was in cardiac ICU for a week and in the regular cardiac unit for one week. I was then transported to Ascension St. Thomas Midtown, where I spent two weeks in physical therapy, learning how to walk again and doing the simple things I once took for granted. At that point, I needed someone to care for me for three months, 24 hours a day, every day - my daughter.

 

So why did I write this? For those three months, I needed somewhere to live, not to mention the expenses of everyday living and being unable to work for who knows how long. I'm on anti-rejection drugs I have to take for the rest of my life. Those life-saving drugs eliminated my immune system for the next several months, meaning I had to avoid people and crowds. My only interaction with the public for a while was when I headed to the hospital for my ever-ending appointments and cardiac rehab.

 

My daughter agreed to move from Michigan to Nashville and become my caregiver for as long as needed. We settled on an Airbnb in East Nashville, which cost approximately $12,000. That’s way more than my monthly retirement income could handle, including the disability checks my daughter gets due to Crohn’s Disease.

 

My daughter has returned to Michigan, and the Airbnb is in my rearview. However, the joy of living a "normal life" was short-lived. I still need help from my friends, family and anyone else who wants to contribute. I'm not saying I'm desperate ... but I'm almost there. That’s why I set up this GoFundMe account in the first place. I wouldn't have made the transplant list without it. And shutting it down at this point will negatively impact my living situation. That's why I'm forced to keep it going.

I still need to focus on my recovery, which I'm discovering will take months. Yes, I'm much improved, but I'm nowhere near where I can 100% take care of myself and my family.

I’m not ready to give up on life. Twenty years ago, heart transplant recipients lived an average of five years post-surgery. Today, life expectancy can exceed 20-30 years. At this moment, I'm concerned about my immediate future. I'll deal with the rest of it after that.

 

Please continue to share this with anyone you think can help. And blessings and good wishes to those who helped me navigate this journey. I still need help getting across the finish line.