Keith Karrmann’s Liver Transplant Recovery Fund

Keith Karrmann... husband, father, son, mechanic for the City of Worcester, friend, Army veteran, retired captain of the volunteer Brookfield Fire Department (25 years), former EMT, Massachusetts Emergency Management associate member... to sum it up- someone who would give anything to help anyone (friend, family or stranger).  Now after his succesful liver transplant surgery- he needs our support. Keith is not the type to ever ask for help when he really needs it- and that's why I am making this fund for him as his daughter, nurse and advocate. 

All donations will be used towards medical expenses(ie. health insurance, medications, hospital visits) and home repairs that will reduce health infection risks as he will be on immunosuppresant medication for the rest of his life in order for his body to not reject his new liver(ie. air purifiers and my parents are in dire need of a roof replacement as it has leaked this summer and caused mold issues that need to be taken care of).

Every little bit makes the biggest difference whether it be a donation or a card to let him know that he has support and encouragement. 
 
The most important thing for Keith to focus on now is his health, recovery and becoming familiar with his new lifestyle adaptations so that healing can be successful.  

Read further for his health backstory and updates.


Keith was diagnosed with Hepatocellular Carcinoma(HCC) in March 2016 after a follow up scan following hospitalization at UMass medical center 2 months prior with a significant portal vein thrombosis. HCC is a type of liver cancer that does not respond to chemotherapy or radiation. Due to his underlying liver disease/cirrhosis, he was also not a candidate for a liver resection and due to the high possibility of new tumor occurrence- there were really no other options except for a complete liver transplant. Shortly thereafter- he had an ablation (burned the tumor to kill the cancerous cells) on his tumor and was put on the liver transplant list by summer 2016. Being on the transplant list- you have to follow a strict protocol of self care, Lab work and CT scans every 3 months. As with all potential transplant recipients- it is a race against time as my dad was facing chronic liver failure and they have a strict criteria. For example- it he ended up developing another tumor that was over a specific dimension or two tumors outside of parameters than he would be disqualified from the transplant list and ultimately have no options for treatment.

My dads MELD score (The Model for End-Stage Liver Disease, or MELD, is a scoring system for assessing the severity of chronic liver disease) has been increasing every 3 months since he was put on the transplant list. The higher your score- the higher you move up on the organ recipient list as your needs are becoming more and more critical. Starting this summer 2018- Keith received his first phone call for a potential liver donor and match. Long story short- after 3 phone calls with subsequent rushing to the hospital and preparation for potential surgery and waiting up to 12 hours just to be sent home due to size discrepancy, too high risk or too fatty of a liver.. he finally got the one the transplant doctors felt was the right match.


On December 12th, 2018 Keith got his liver. The surgery took place starting at 9:30pm and ended around 4:30am. This day marks a new beginning. The road to healing and recovery has now begun. Typical healing time takes approximately 6 months but sometimes up to a year. Read further to track Keith’s progress ❤️ Prayers and positive thoughts are greatly appreciated!

Read the updates to keep track of Keiths progress.  Thank you all in advance for your support and donations!