A little over 3 years ago, Jorge had a root canal, ended up getting an infection and going septic and spent a week in the hospital. At that time he found out he was diabetic and had  hep c and that the hep c had resulted in him having liver scarring. The hep c happened because of a blood transfusion as a kid (back before they tested blood) after a motorcycle accident. He had it his whole life and it destroyed his liver. 

Since then it’s been a struggle to get his blood sugar under control and maintain his health.....chronic symptoms have come and gone...infections, edema and neuropathy. . There  have been many hospital visits. He worked hard to get his blood sugar managed and starting eating healthy. The doctors saw this and approved him to undergo Hep C treatment earlier this year, which was successfully treated. We thought things were turning around! 

But then in March (on his birthday), he got a blood infection, went septic and had a stroke. He also developed pneumonia. He came out of the hospital for a week and ended up back in with the same infection and 25+ pounds of fluid retention that wouldn’t go away even with medication.  He was out for a little while again but just never recovered. He ended up going back in on May 9 and has been hospitalized since then. 

It turned out he had a cellulitis infection. That plus the fluid retention and then his kidney function started to decline.  The liver was causing the kidneys to fail. He was watched for a week and various medications were tried to make his kidneys bounce back but they didn’t and his Liver MELD score continued to get worse.  eventually they decided to transfer him to LA to be with the liver specialists and to see if he could get approved for a liver transplant. It has come to that point. 

He has been at Kaiser in LA since 5/19. He is going through all the hoops of the liver transplant evaluation. He was starting to do pretty good. People were even telling him he didn’t look sick, but then out of the blue he ended up with another infection and went septic again. They are treating that and he started dialysis to try to get rid of the toxins/fluid that his organs are no longer processing. 

The plan is to transfer him to UCLA (Kaiser doesn’t do liver transplants) once he is approved and cleared as able tolerate the surgery and to get him on the liver transplant list.  He will have to wait for a deceased donor (there is no nice way to say that). He is too ill to go the live donor route, which is a bummer because people have asked about getting checked for a match. 

Once he gets to UCLA, he is expected to remain hospitalized until he gets a new liver (unless he suddenly and miraculously improves).  Once he gets a new liver, he will need 24/7 care for 3-6 months and there will be numerous follow up appointments at UCLA and LA Kaiser and lifelong medications. 

There will be so many expenses moving forward. The truth is, we already owe close to the $10k that I put as the goal for this campaign due to medical bills over the last few years.   Now we are adding to that: commuting expenses to and from the hospital (we live  in Orange County), caregiver expenses, hotel stays and meals for the time needed to stay in LA to be with him, co-payments and deductibles, medication for life so his body doesn’t reject the new liver,  cobra costs to keep his insurance, expenses to prepare our home for his return - deep clean, adding hand rails and a hospital bed, care for my son when I need to be by Jorge’s side supporting him....the list goes on.   

Jorge has been on disability for almost two years. He’s not getting state disability. What he gets from At&t long term disability covers his basic bills/expenses.  I’m doing my best to keep it all together but it’s difficult to support our family on one salary even when there are no medical expenses. Neither one of us wants to ask for help, but the time has come where we don’t have a choice. We need help. 

Jorge has helped so many people over the years.  He’s always the first to help out a friend if he can. How many people has he helped with their computers and not charged them a dime? How many people and animals has he taken in when no one else would?  How many times has he made you laugh when you were feeling down or going through a tough time? He took care of his mom when she had Alzheimer’s. He cared for his dad when I’m his last days as well.  I’ve seen him use his last $15 to buy a kid a toy at Target when his mom couldn’t afford it because the kid was sad. I’ve seen him step up and become an important father figure to my son London and London adores him. Wherever we go, he seems to make friends....from the waitress at a restaurant to the cashier at the grocery store to the neighbors down the street that he meets getting the mail. This man has a big heart with good intentions. 

If you are able to help our family get  through this very difficult time and lighten the load and stress a little, we would be so grateful.  If you aren’t able to help financially, please know that well wishes, prayers, and positive energy are also welcome and appreciated.  We also need to re-home our cats per his team of doctors. If you are able to help with that, please let me know as well. 

Jorge and I got our second chance together after nearly 20 years of being apart.  We want our “happily ever after” and I refuse to give up on my dream of marrying my soulmate one day. Please help me get him back to that happy- go-lucky jokester and fun guy that we all know and love. 

Thank you!

Much love, 
Melissa