Hello, my name is Jerry Mace and this is the story and the reason that I was forced to start a GoFundMe account.

I was living on the island of St. John in the Caribbean where I was diagnosed with severe cirrhosis of the liver with a MELD score of 35. I went to the local wellness center on St. John where a friend who is a doctor there noticed that I was jaundiced. I immediately traveled to the hospital on St. Thomas on Memorial Day weekend. The doctor said if I had waited 48 hours longer, I would've passed away on the island of St. John. Thank God for the wonderful doctors and nurses at the St. Thomas hospital. They were able to stabilize me enough where I could be transported to Shands Medical Center at the University of Florida.

When I arrived at the emergency room, I was informed that my company's insurance was no longer valid, which came as an extreme shock to me. They pushed me out in front of the emergency room and said that what I needed could be performed outpatient. I rapidly started to decline at that time and through the help of the chief doctor at the St. Thomas Hospital, I was admitted to a room. With no insurance, I was informed it was impossible to have a liver transplant because of the extreme cost. I currently live off of Social Security alone as this illness completely depleted all of my assets to stay alive. I have become a tremendous financial burden on my family, which I've never had to do in the past.

My mother and sister-in-law flew down to St. Thomas and brought me back here to Gainesville, Florida. I was put on the transplant list and my health rapidly declined. Through the help of my sister and Almighty God, I was able to obtain insurance here in Florida using Obamacare, which costs me $900 a month. I only get $600 from Social Security. If it had not been for the insurance, I surely would've passed away, but that was not the will of the Almighty. I was admitted to Shands Medical Center.

One of the effects of cirrhosis of the liver is ammonia traveling to the brain, which really causes you to lose your mind and all sensibility. They thought I was stable enough to go home while I waited through the process of the next year of qualifying for a liver. Once I reached home, my family found me wandering down the street with my walker, headed towards the lake. I had completely lost my mind; I had no idea where I was or who I was. I was readmitted to the hospital in serious condition. They figured while they had me, they were going to run 20-something tests to determine if I would even qualify for a liver transplant. During this time, my family was called in twice to say goodbye, but I'm a fighter and with the help of my wonderful brother, they agreed to put me on the transplant list.

The process was extremely fast from the time I was diagnosed with cirrhosis to the time that I'm writing this GoFundMe. I have received an awesome liver and I'm on the road to recovery. I am currently at the University of Florida rehab center where I have been now for seven days. I've been given the go-ahead to go home on Monday where I'll be living with my family. The current bills and future bills that I'm facing are astronomical as I only have Social Security to my name. I simply lost all of my assets due to this disease. I thank Almighty God, my family, and my friends for their prayers, but I need some help financially so that I can continue my dialysis. Although the transplant was successful, my kidneys did not turn back on, so I have to attend dialysis three days a week, which is very costly and only a small portion is covered by insurance. If you have it in your heart and you're able to send funds or just prayers and thoughts, I would greatly appreciate it. I love you, Jerry.