Pat Bittiker Liver Transplant

About 10 years ago, Pat was diagnosed with NASH (liver failure). She has been living and maintaining her illness for the last 10 years. About 3 months ago, her condition worsened and she has been in and out of the hospital about 6 times. She has not been able to work since November 2020 and has been isolated to her home since March 2020 due to COVID. She has a very small fixed income from her current employer. 

The only thing that is going to help her at this point is a liver transplant. Her daughter, Sara has gone through all of the medical tests and was deemed a match to give Pat half of her liver. This will be a long process, but the surgery is scheduled for 1/21/2021 (sounds like a lucky day to me).

Pat  will be in the hospital for a few weeks AFTER the surgery and then will be in outpatient for several more weeks/months. The surgery cannot be done in Sioux Falls, so we will need to travel to Omaha. She will have to stay in Omaha for 3-6 months. She will need someone with her 24/7 during her outpatient time. This will be difficult since her son (Mike) , and two daughters (Nikki and Sara) do not live in Omaha and cannot afford to just move to Omaha for 3-6 months. Sara will also be in the hospital for about a week to recuperate and then will travel back home. 

We are anticipating expenses for travel back and forth as well as potentially needing to hire a nurse to stay with her for some of the time. We will also need to cover her living expenses back in Sioux Falls while she is recuperating. 

We are hopeful with what this will do for Pat's quality of life.

Any expenses raised and not needed will be donated American Liver Foundation for continued research on this hard disease. 

Thanks in advance for your prayers and any donation you can make will be very much appreciated.