On July 30, 2024, Tom received a kidney transplant. We were overjoyed as he hadn't needed to go through dialysis and had been on the list for mere days. It seemed that our prayers had been answered, and we had been blessed.

But all of that changed in November; Tom had gotten a cold that he could not shake, then RSV, which Epstein Barr followed, and it seemed to snowball from there. He would have high fevers, which would then lead to chills. His blood pressure was all over the place, and it seemed that no matter how hard Doctors tried to get him on the road to recovery, his health kept taking detours.

Tom wound up spending almost all of December 2024 and celebrated New Year in the hospital.

Sadly, after doing multiple biopsies and other tests, it was determined that Tom's body had rejected the Kidney, and there was no way to save it. He began dialysis in the hospital, and even though he's gone through almost 3 weeks of dialysis, his health hasn't made much of an improvement. He's lost nearly 30 pounds, and most of his muscle mass, making basic activities difficult.

As all of this has been going on, our landlord's father had an accident and as a result, will no longer be able to live alone. Since our lease technically ended on January 1, he reached out to us this past weekend to let us know that on February 1, he would be giving us 60 days' notice to vacate. Obviously, Tom is in no shape to help me pack, let alone participate in the moving process.

With Tom unable to work, and no sure sign that he will be able to return to his shop in sight, his income has been drastically impacted.

Adding to the stress are all the bills from the hospital that have begun to pile up as his insurance deductibles reset on January 1.

I am setting up this fund to help Tom bridge the gap between what the shop has been able to generate (and I owe a huge Thank you to Mike and Chris who have been holding down the fort as best as they can) and the financial demands being put on Tom.

Any help is greatly appreciated. We're also working with our social worker to find out what friends and family would need to do to be tested to see if they are a match to donate a kidney for Tom. Once I have that information, I will post it in an update.

Thank you, and may 2025 bring you and Tom many blessings.