Brendan's Hospice Care Fund

Hi! My name is Brendan. I am 25 years old and I have spent a lifetime living with congenital heart disease and congestive heart failure. My first surgery was at just 4 weeks old, and I have had 4 other open heart surgeries as a child. At the age of 14, I was lucky enough to receive a heart transplant. Although many people recover quickly, I did not. I had to "grow into" my transplant. However, I was able to attend school, graduate on time, work and lead something of a normal life for several years. Late last fall, I began to feel unwell again. At first we thought it was a medication issue but that turned out not to be the case. My doctors told me that I had CAV or Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy. In layman's terms, this means a hardening and closing of the main arteries going into the heart. They also noted that the CAV was progressing quickly. I soon began having electrical problems in my atrium and so an Internal Cardiac Defibrillator (ICD) was surgically placed under my right collarbone to shock my heart back into a normal rhythm if necessary. It was then determined that my left ventricle was not working well and that I needed to have a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) put in. This is a pump that is surgically implanted into the heart with a drive line exiting my body and connected to a small computer with two large batteries. This pump is now my lifeline. All of these surgical procedures were  being done in an effort to get me on the list for a second transplant. Not long after my LVAD surgery, my right ventricle stopped working. This was unexpected and there is no surgical or medical treatment for this condition. All of a sudden my family was told that I was no longer a candidate for
transplantation and that I only had a matter of days to live. Well, that was three months ago and I'm still fighting with everything I've got. My family including my Uncle A., my brother Zach, my Auntie Fran and my Nana have all sacrificed a lot to take care of me. My mother and sister have been with me every step of the way and I wouldn't be here without them. My mother, Dana Deane, had to quit her job, give up all of her possessions and relocate from Hawaii after making several trips overseas during my illness. She has been living off her savings which are soon to run out. My sister, Crystal Davidson, has also been unemployed and has dedicated all of her time to caring for me, which makes it impossible for her to look for work. They both say it's a joy to care for me. However, it may become a necessity for them to be away from me if they have to return to work. And it is very difficult to find work in our community.

Any help would be greatly appreciated by our family as our expenses are piling up. I'm now in palliative care at home and I wish to remain at home with my family by my side until the very end. Please help me to accomplish this and not be a hardship to my family. They deserve the best and I'm grateful for everything they do. And we will all be extremely grateful for anything you can do to help us. Thank You and God Bless you and your family.