Hello reader. My name is Jason Vanzant and I am asking for your help to provide financial assistance for my first and best friend Jerrod Bales, 44 years of age. Jerrod is a nonsmoker suffering from Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, a lung disease that scars the air sacs within the lungs to an extent that the damage is irreversible, leaving my friend more susceptible to contracting viruses, infections, and progressing dyspnea (difficult labored breathing). Jerrod is on a waiting list for a double lung transplant, which hopefully will be within two to three months of typing this request.
As I type this Jerrod is at or below 40% lung capacity. As of August 2021 he was permanently placed on oxygen therapy and unable to return to work. He compared the oxygen therapy to breathing through a straw, never being able to catch his breath. According to the pulmonologists, the only remaining option of treatment for my friend is a double lung transplant, giving Jerrod a 30% chance for his body to accept the new organ(s). If his body rejects one lung during the operation, Jerrod will only have one more attempt for success.
Due to his terminal illness Jerrod has been placed on temporary disability which equates to his pay being cut to 60% before taxes and insurance are deducted. The temporary disability expires in six months. After the six month period his ability to qualify for insurance coverage will also be affected. As an unintended consequence, Jerrod's daughter postponed her wedding (which was to take place in September 2021). She feared that her father would be exposed to the slightest infection, worsening Jerrod's condition. The harsh reality is he may never get to walk his daughter down the aisle. Jerrod is a son, a brother to three, a husband, a father of two beautiful girls, a friend to many, and provider for his family.
The funding for this operation will lift a small burden of relief from the family so they can focus on Jerrod’s health and a hopeful recovery. The funding is also in immediate need as my friend is looking at a potential surgery date in October or November of 2021. Your contribution to helping someone you possibly do not know, nor may never meet provides hope in saving the life of a good, decent man. If you are not in a position to bestow financial support, I humbly beg you to please consider spreading this message to others that might be able to aid in his operation of saving my friend's life.
Funding will support the family meet medical payments as the procedure is broken down by the following after insurance covered costs and met deductible:
Lung Transplant: $27,233
Procurement of organ: $73,100
Hospital Transplant Admission: $302,900
Surgeon Cost: $33,500
Pre-Transplant Hospital Admission: $10,300
Immunosuppressants and other drugs: $23,700
Jerrod’s Full Deterioration:
In December of 2019 Jerrod began feeling symptoms such as shortness of breath and feeling lethargic. In October of 2020, doctors requested an X-ray of his lungs, which did not show significant damage, yet Jerrod never fully recovered back to “normal”. A few months later in January 2021 (and before a wealth of information and access to vaccines) Jerrod tested positive for COVID and was bed ridden for nearly three weeks. After this time, walking up stairs or just walking a few hundred feet exhausted him. His physician requested a CT of his lungs in March 2021. The results showed signs of Pulmonary Fibrosis. He was put on a strong antibiotic for ten days which helped him in brief stints, but his health continued to decline. In May of 2021 he was seen by a Pulmonologist who confirmed he did have a type of Fibrosis, but it was uncertain as to which type. He was prescribed 60 mg of Prednisone steroids to combat the diagnosis. The Prednisone did little to fight the disease and has left Jerrod swollen and his skin thinning as you can see in the before and after pictures of this post.
Jerrod was also placed on a 165 L oxygen canister, using 4 liters per minute and switching out tanks every 45 minutes in order to continue working and being a productive contributor to society. By July he was switched to an oxygen concentrator but was reverted back to the tanks as the concentrator only supplied his lungs with pulses of oxygen. Jerrod was referred to a second Pulmonologist specializing in Pulmonary Fibrosis, who ordered a second CT scan in August 2021. The CT confirmed that Jerrod’s condition was worsening as the air sacs in his lungs were permanently scarred. He was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis leaving one remaining option of a double lung transplant.