Liver Transplant for Nathan

I've always said that asking for help is the hardest thing to do, but I cannot do this alone. My 25 year old son Nathan Hays has end stage liver disease as a result of Cystic Fibrosis. He was hospitalized in early June and on the follow up visit his doctor dropped the bomb that he wanted to start Nathan on a transplant evaluation. He followed that up with the comment that Nathan might have cancer. We were nearly done with the testing required to go on the transplant list when the clinic called to confirm that he does have cancer.

I was braced to wait a year or two for a transplant, but the cancer diagnosis means that Nathan may be receiving a transplant within the next six months. I wiped out my savings in 2012 when Nathan had massive internal bleeding from his liver and was in critical care and I had to cancel my teaching contracts. Now I am faced with the possible loss of work (I am a part time college teacher with no benefits which means I loose my pay for the day to be able to take Nathan to appointments and I may not be able to work for an entire semester due to the transplant) to care for Nathan (somone is required to be with him 24/7 for the first month after the transplant) and living and travel expenses for a stay in Ann Arbor, Michigan while he is hospitalized and all of the follow up trips to the doctors and the continued testing and consultations with four specialists prior to the transplant.

At this time, Nathan has no income and my mom and I are supporting him. He had just finished enough credits for an associates degree when he nearly died in 2012. It took years to get those two years of credits in as he was already very sick (he had a major liver bleed in 2001 also) and he was never able to get a job. Social Security denied him SSI benefits and we have been trying to appeal for a year.  In the mean time I have been paying for his insurance.

Those that know Nathan, know that he has not been well for years now. When his liver first failed in 2001, I thought my time with him may be limited so I let him choose what he wanted to do for a vacation. I started taking him to gaming conventions and then later Steampunk conventions. He loves to wear costumes so I have choosen to use a picture of Nathan in his Steampunk Batman costume. 

Help be Nathan's superhero and get us through this transplant. A donation of any size will mean a lot to us as will spreading the word of this fundraiser.