Let's Support Mike Pitts Through His Kidney Transplant Journey!

 

Hi, my name is Sam Kaufman and Mike Pitts is my dad. I am incredibly lucky to be his daughter for so many amazing reasons. For someone who is so strong, he has been going through the toughest time of his life. About a year ago, my dad's kidneys finally failed, resulting in him starting the journey of dialysis and searching for a kidney donor. He has a couple amazing people who have come forward to donate and we are hoping that one of them is going to be a good match for my dad. The reason for this Go Fund Me is to try and help my dad with the financial burden of everything he is going through. He wants to make sure that he is financially able to cover all the expenses of donors. Also, because of his insurance, 20% of the surgery costs will be out of pocket. My dad has always been one to help others and now it's our turn to be there for him. My dad has a great story to tell and for those of you who would like to know more, please keep on reading and thank you for taking the time to check out his story. Also I try to post updates through Twitter @KidneyForMike.

 

 

Backstory: Having a dad who was so involved in my life has helped me to become the person I am today. My dad was a baseball, football and softball coach as well as a boy scout and cub scout leader. He was the room dad at my elementary school and would chaperone almost all of my field trips. The best part was he would walk me to class every morning, and even when I thought I was "too grown for this", in reality, I still wanted nothing more than for him to still walk me in. For the past twenty nine years, he has helped run a local fishing derby, which I participated in as a child. My dad supported me every step of the way, even when I only caught the smallest bait size fish. Over all, the highlights of my childhood with my dad were running time, picking out our Christmas tree and our camping trips. Running time was running like crazy around the main floor of my dad's home, it was so simple, but so fun! And he made sure each year we would go out and cut down a real Christmas tree. We may have picked some ugly trees over the years but they were always perfect in his eyes, as long as we loved it.

 

 

About Mike: He received his Associates Degree from Hocking College and then his Bachelor of Science from The Ohio State University. He worked Wildlife Management for the Cleveland Metroparks and then a Groundskeeper for the Lorain County Metroparks. Mike is now a retired firefighter of thirty one years on the job. With a job like that, you have so many good moments but that also comes with the bad days as well. Little did I know, on the days he would just come home and hug me, he had seen a child take their own life, or a car wreck where you know that the entire family in the car isn't going to survive. Even with the rough moments, he has got to help so many people. In his career, he has helped deliver three babies and has saved someone from drowning. While canoeing down the Mohican River, he heard a family screaming because they tipped over the canoe and their young child got separated from them. Mike was the only other person out on the water and without even thinking, jumped in to grab the child. The family wanted to give him recognition, but my dad does not do things for fame, he just has that instinct of helping others. In 1996 he had a roof collapse on him while in a burning building. It was not his time to go because it was a triangular roof and the peak part came down leaving him just enough room to not be crushed. He had a shoulder injury but was lucky enough to walk away from that. In recent years, whenever my dad flies, there always seems to be some sort of medical emergency, which he steps in to help in any way he can.

 

 

Where it all started: In 2005, this was the beginning of what we now know as an incredibly long hard journey. It was just another car accident on the Ohio Turnpike, but it turned out to be a life changing day. My dad was getting out of the truck in what is normally the high speed lane, when a car came from behind their engine truck and hit my dad. The car's mirror is mainly what nailed my dad which sent him flying into the engine truck so hard that his face bent the bracket on the mirror. He started having blood pressure spikes after that which we now know is probably what helped kill off his kidneys. In 2006 he had a biopsy done where they determined that fifty six percent of his kidneys were already dead and scarring. His percentage slowly dropped over the next sixteen years, but this past January he got sick and it finished off the little bit of function he had left. He had to do the worst thing imaginable and that was to stop traveling and living his life to sit in a dialysis chair to stay alive. The whole process has been a huge adjustment, it has mentally and physically taken a toll on him. He had surgery for a temporary port in his chest, which since connected straight to his heart, a full body shower was not an option. For nine months, he had to rely on an amazing friend who washed his hair each week. He went through a very tough adjustment period, I tried to support him the best I could and just be there for when he needed to vent. There were a lot of Why Me moments, and the I Can't Do This Anymore. Mike's dream has always been to throw out the first pitch at a baseball game and Live On Nebraska had offered that to him for Father's Day at the Omaha Storm Chasers Game. Unfortunately, he was not able to be there because of dialysis. The Lake Erie Crushers have offered him the first pitch as a Kidney Transplant Survivor for whenever that time comes.

 

 

Where we are now: Mike finally had multiple surgeries where a fistula was put into his wrist, which is what is now used for dialysis. He can take a full body shower just in time for winter, but the major downside, the dialysis center uses two fifteen gauge needles. This is incredibly painful for him, but he finds the strength to go back three times a week for four hours. He gets a lot of awful side effects from being on dialysis, so the sooner his potential donors get tested, the better it will be for him. The next big issue from all of this is the financial side. My dad spent a week out here in Nebraska and it was his first time traveling and doing dialysis. The center out here was an hour away and they did not know his levels, resulting in massive vertigo and leg cramps. For that week of dialysis, it cost him $2,000. When dialysis first started, he was at Fresenius for five weeks before anyone noticed that his insurance was not going to pick up the tab. He is hopeful that the bill will get washed away because of their error but it is for $175,839. This is just a glimpse into the bills that my dad has coming in, and even while trying to make payments, the bills are still getting sent to collections. He currently has about $30,000 in medical bill debt right now. He was skipping meals because the day to day expenses have become overwhelming. He retired with enough money to live off, but helped people down on their luck over the years. Now my dad is in the same position and I'm hoping anyone reading this feels inspired to help a great man.

 

 

This process has been the hardest thing any of us have ever gone through. My dad has wanted to give up so many times and didn’t want to live another day. It absolutely breaks my heart to watch him go through this and I will never fully understand how he feels, but I can do everything in my power to help him get through it. We are grateful to everyone who has reached out to check on him and will appreciate any help that is offered! Thank you.