My dad, Dean Kennedy, was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) back in 2001. PSC is a chronic liver disease that progressively damages the bile ducts through inflammation and scarring, eventually leading to liver failure. Up until just recently, it was very well managed.

He has since been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis over the past several years. Fast forward to the summer of 2024, his health really started to decline. He has been in and out of the hospital with blood infections, a liver abscess, sepsis, and many other issues. This led to him being on short-term disability. In September of 2024, he was told he would need a liver in the next 3-4 months due to his high MELD score (34, I believe it was). He went through the initial testing at UAB, but his heart function was too low, and they wouldn’t approve him. He ended up having a heart stent put in, and his heart function increased; however, he still didn’t get a liver. At this point, he was getting irregular paracentesis done to drain the fluid from his abdomen. Eventually, it worked up to being done every week, which lowered his MELD score to below transplant requirements but has kept him sicker than he was previously.

Dad is now out of work permanently as they work on full-time disability. He recently fell and broke his hip, which required surgery. This caused his kidneys to go into overdrive filtering out meds since his liver is failing. His kidney function is now shot on top of everything else. He went to skilled nursing for physical therapy, where he fell again. They transferred him back to the hospital, where they checked for internal bleeding. Instead, they found his white blood cell count to be elevated to septic levels. So at this time, they have stopped doing the paracentesis since it’s killing his kidneys. They are searching for the source of the infection causing his WBC to be so elevated. And now he is scheduled for a colonoscopy tomorrow to find the source of a new bleed. All of this just to even get him healthy enough to withstand a liver transplant. His new initial appointment at UAB has been pushed back to December because of all of this.

Needless to say, he needs prayers and lots of them. On top of prayers, they also need financial help. Dad has been out of consistent work since last summer. He has tried doing food/grocery delivery to supplement his loss of income but now can no longer drive. My stepmom has stepped in doing delivery on top of her full-time job but is also trying to spend time with him in the hospital. Medical bills are piling up, insane COBRA insurance premiums continue to have to be paid while they wait for permanent disability approvals, and everyday bills continue.

I wanted to create this GoFundMe to help alleviate some of the financial burden that these emergent medical issues have brought along. Even if you can’t donate, sharing helps spread the word. Prayers help in all ways too. Any and all help is greatly appreciated! Thank you ❤️