Moving Matt Closer to Mass. Fund

This is Matt Schesser, my brother. Diagnosed with Tourette's at age 3 and suffering from many physical ailments all his life, he recently spent a week in the hospital's ICU with internal bleeding from an unknown source. Doctors rushed to stabilized him as his hemoglobin dropped from a normal 13 to 5.3, and if our mother hadn't rushed him to the hospital when she had, he would have died from internal bleeding.

Two or three days into his stay, doctors discovered the source of the problem: his liver. Matt has never had a drink, a cigarette, or a drug other than his prescriptions all his life, but due to a combination of diabetes, fatty liver disease, and a case of hepatitis, his liver has developed cirrhosis--a condition untreatable by anything other than a transplant.

That's the stage Matt is at right now. In six weeks, he'll need a change of the rubber bands holding closed some of his esophogeal blood vessels closed. For the rest of his life, he'll have to take four new medications to make sure his system filters like it's supposed to and his body doesn't back up his liver again. When he gets the transplant, which we pray is sooner rather than later, he'll need more medications to guarantee his body doesn't reject the new organ.

In all of this--more and more frequent ER visits, his transplant, and his existing leg and back problems--Matt cannot go upstairs to his room anymore and requires a comfortable, chronic-pain-friendly bed to sleep on. That's what the Flex-A-Bed can offer him, a comfortable, safe place to sleep in spite of everything he faces and deals with every day. The rising head and feet will make sure he can both sit up and keep his legs elevated to prevent fluid buildup, which can be deadly in his state.

We need these funds urgently, friends. The sooner he gets the bed, the sooner we can make sure he has the rest his body requires between these ER visits. And once he has his transplant, he'll be able to recover in this bed exactly as he should: quietly and peacefully.

We're a working class family with enough funds to live, with little left over. That's why we need your help.

Thank you, friends, from a sister and a family that beg for your help. I'll provide regular updates, and though I can't give you anything physical as a reward, I offer my sincerest gratitude for anything you're willing to give.

Again, thank you.

-Caitlin Theroux