Jason, a loved big brother, son, fiancé, brother-in-law, neighbor, and friend, suddenly ended up in the ER Sunday afternoon. After a few symptoms that seemed to be minor, a chest x-ray showed Congestive Heart Failure (CHF). Of course, at the young age of 26, this raised a lot of concern.

He was then shipped to the Critical Care Unit in Salina. This is where his conditions started to worsen. He was listed as critical, but stable. He was struggling to breathe, his heart rate was consistently way too high, and his blood pressure would tank and then sky rocket.

At 3 am Monday morning, he was moved into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). By 8am Monday morning, they were getting him ready to send him on to the Cardiac ICU at KU Med in Kansas City via flight for life.

Upon arrival at KU, they got to work on him immediately.

They explained to Jess and his family that he is very, very sick. His body was in the process of shutting down. He was fighting for his life. His lungs were struggling badly, and his organs were compromised.

Jason was started on temporary dialysis and he has had 1.2 liters of fluid removed from his lungs. Since then, Jason’s vitals have been way better than they were, however, with movement his heart rate quickly increases to the 170’s. He’s not out of the woods yet.

They are unsure what is causing all of this. Whether it’s a heart condition or if he contracted a virus that started to shut down his body. Yesterday they did a bone marrow biopsy to check for a virus called Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) which is a rare but potentially fatal condition in which certain white blood cells (histiocytes and lymphocytes) build up in and damage organs, including the bone marrow, liver, and spleen, and destroy other blood cells.

This has not been confirmed yet as they are waiting on results.

Jason is still listed in critical condition, but stable. Doctor’s have told him and the family that Jason will be there for a while, which is for the best. His fiancé, Jessica, both of his parents, and his little sister have been by his side the entire time.

With that being said, medical bills and the normal everyday bills are adding up, along with travel and rooming expenses. Anything helps, but please do not feel obligated to donate. If you are unable to make a monetary donation, we ask that you please pray for Jason’s recovery and his family as he continues on this journey.