Luciano's journey of Faith

My name is Luciano Whatley. I was born with a very rare condition, which is called a" Congenital Absence of Inferior Vena Cava". I was born mising a large portion of my inferior vena cava which is a medical marvel because the inferior vena cava is resposible for returning blood back to the heart from the legs and I was missing a seven inch portion of it in my abdominal area. I did not know about this condition until I was about 24 years old. I had developed two blood clots in my legs on two different occassions, in which my legs also begin to swell quite a bite. I also begin developing vericose veins all over my legs, in which the vascular secialist diagnosed these issues as a result of the veins in my legs being very dialated which allowed the blood to travel in both directions instead of one. The vascular specialist then scheduled me for surgery to remove the superficial veins in my legs to fix the problem. A couple days after the surgery my legs developed blood clots from my ankles into my lower abdomen. The vascular specialist did not know the reason for this at the moment so he and his team did a lot of testing and procedures to find the answer. They then found the congenital absence of my inferior vena cava which is extremely rare and I was the first patient that the University of New Mexico Hospital had seen with this condition. The surgery to fix this problem and reconstruct my inferior vena cava had also never been done by any of the surgeons here. Despite the high risk of not surviving the surgery, I survived it after losing around seven liters of blood. Although the problem had been fixed my issues with blod clots were not. I have encountered numerous blood clots and surgeries the past seven years. I have had nineteen surgical procedures, the major IVC reconstruction and the remaining eighteen were on both legs which has cause a lot of damage and trauma. This past year I had a total of four blood clots while on blood thinners. The last blood clot was found in October which completely occluded the vein it was in and was as hard as concrete, in which they could not surgically intervene this time as they could not break through the clot. So I was sent home with instructions to wait while the clot dissolved on its own which has taken quite some as months have passed while I have waited patiently in excruiating pain. On top of the pain in my legs I have encountered issues with my abdomen the past two months which include nausea, vomitting, diarrhea and bleeding. The medical staff is aware of all of my symptoms/conditions and are unaware of the reasons nor do they know how to treat. Just recently I was referred to a specialist in Oklahoma City who could possibly help find better solutions which is exciting, although financially it is just about impossible. I started my job in January 2017, in which I am still in my probationary period and have used the little time I have accrued this year so the past eight weeks that  have been off I have not been getting paid and the bills have begin to fall behind and things have been difficlut for my wife, three children and myself. The funds would help my family and I tremendously so that we don't lose our home and encounter more uncertainty in life. The funds would also bring us great hopes in the journey to finding a solution to help me get my life back as the past seven years have been chaos. I am in constant pain and am limited in what I can do as standing, walking, sitting and everything seems to be affected by my legs and the circulation defeciency. The past seven years have revolved around me being in the hospital, near death encounters, in and out of work, being home a lot as I can't do much because of the pain and the past seven years has brought a lot of worry because of the uncertainty to my family. I have the appointment with the specialist in Oklahoma on January 19, 2018. Anything you can do to help my family and I continue on the quest to fight for my life and health would greatly be appreciated.