Support Stephen Begley's Kidney Transplant Recovery

Yesterday, on his 65th birthday, my dad Stephen Begley received a call from the University of Toledo for the most amazing gift of more time with his family. He has fought tooth and nail to stay alive to get a kidney transplant. Steve has persevered through countless hospitalizations, ICU stays, intubations, testing, and 4 years of Dialysis treatments 3x a week to get to this joyous moment. He has displayed strength I didn’t know was possible. My mom, Laurie Begley, has been his full time caregiver over the last 4 years and is the most selfless human I know. She has been his advocate, orchestrating doctors appointments & medication, dropping any and everything to be by his side whenever he needed, a true example of “in sickness and in health.” Since his successful transplant on Saturday morning she has not left his side in the hospital. They now face the reality of being off work for a couple of months without pay, as their income slows, the bills will keep coming. Once Laurie returns to work she will have to pay back medical insurance premiums, setting them back even farther. Our family will also be traveling back and forth from Fenton to The University of Toledo multiple times a week, and tapering visits off slowly over the next few months to check for any signs of rejection. My parents really did not want me to ask for any sort of donations on their behalf, but I know the bills & appointments are going to add up quickly. After everything they have done to get to this point they deserve a stress free recovery as they turn the page on this traumatic and stressful chapter in our lives. We are beyond thrilled our Dad is going to finally have some happy & healthy times ahead. Thank you so much to everyone who has asked about him, thought of him, or prayed for him, it worked! We truly are surrounded by the best family, friends and community.