LoveForLouver Medical & Family Support

Hi everyone, thank you for coming. This is the medical update & healthcare donation page for Louver (Dave) Merrill. Many of you know that he has had a very long fight with lung disease, kidney disease, heart failure and a multitude of other issues over the years. In 2015, we were fortunate enough to have been gifted 8 extra years with him through a successful lung transplant. Through that transplant, although very challenging and scary, he was given a new light on life and enjoyed every second of it.

Shortly after his lung transplant, his youngest daughter (Shelbie) passed away, at 22 years old, from a medical accident. He fought through all those emotions, and still was always able to keep a smile on his face and entertain everyone he met. Despite his terminal illness, he is still making everyone at the hospital smile and laugh; even if it takes him a few tries to talk or crack his dirty joke.

He is one of the bravest and toughest men I've ever met; he’s a warrior. I've been fortunate enough to call him my dad and learn how to be a stronger & better man, especially through the extremely challenging past 8 years. He has taught me most everything I know about life, love and determination.

He has been an amazing father, uncle, grandpa, husband, brother and son. Unfortunately his health has taken a turn for the worse. He's been in the hospital for almost 4 months. Fighting numerous life threatening conditions. Kidney failure, extreme diabetic hyperglycemia (numbers 400+), amputations, heart attacks, pneumonia numerous times, c-diff, infections all over his body, collapsed/blocked veins, skin cancer, etc. As a testament to his grit, he still remains hopeful to be able to "come home and work in the garage with Luke again". He never wants to give up & he still thinks he will be back home workin’.

Unfortunately, It's with a heavy heart that I say, time has come near the end for such an amazing man. Our family and his doctors have exhausted every treatment option. Knowing his death is only a few days away, we have come together as a family to try and get family visitors around the clock, and a sleepover companion with him every night; to try and make him feel "at home". We were also able to bring his beloved dogs in to the hospital for one last visit with him.

Now, we are focused on giving him the best possible & most comfortable care before his angelic trip to see his daughter, mother and brother again. We are hopeful he will be at home in the next day or two for hospice care, but we are unsure if that will be a possibility with how fast he's making his journey back to God.

With such a great personality and care for everyone, he has made a lot of friends. And we wanted to do this page to keep people in the loop. Our family is struggling with this, and keeping people up to date individually is very difficult. So, please come here for updates.

After his death, the coming months will be difficult. Especially for his wife, my mom, Denise. If anyone is wanting to help out with meals, any sort of donations, cards or flowers, please feel free to do so. My dad loved mowing the lawn and doing stuff around the house, so we will be greatly missing that. Any donations we receive will be going to filling that gap in what my parent’s house needs and what he loved to do. In-Home hospice care, 4 months of hospital costs & funeral expenses are also going to be fairly expensive. I have started a couple donation platforms for dad. Venmo: Username is LoveForLouver. Paypal: [email redacted] or you can use the GoFundMe here. Otherwise, just sharing this page with friends & keeping him and us in your thoughts is something we greatly appreciate as well.

Looking forward I (Luke) am hoping to be able to keep my mom happily in the house that my dad rebuilt for her, and our family, 30 years ago, but it is older and always seems to need some repairs or maintenance. I am currently saving money to pay off their mortgage so my mom can live there for the rest of her remaining time and not have to worry about paying the mortgage or taking care of the house without my dad. As a young boy, I grew up with a very sick dad and worrying about providing for the family was something that has always been on my mind. Now it’s my time to do it.

Unfortunately, It's also going to be extremely hard on me. Dad has been my best friend my entire life. There haven't been very many days in my life where I haven't talked to him. We have gone on many adventures together, built many things together, and built a bond that I am so happy I had the opportunity to have, but which also makes this extremely hard on me. His daughters (Shannon & Jessie), his grandkids (Eli, Semaj & Brynn), the dogs, his doctors, members of the car community and everyone else in his life as well.

I know it's cliche to say, but he really has impacted many people so strongly and is going to be remembered as the funny, loving man he was. Thank you for those of you that care enough to read this far, and we appreciate all of you, your kind words and your support through these difficult times.

-Luke, Denise, Shannon, Jessie & the rest of the Merrill Family