Help Blake Recover
Donation protected
Many people know Blake as the big-hearted, energetic, always ready to crack a joke kind of man. Whether you’re a family member or friend, he treats everyone with the same love and respect because of his unconditional love for others. Blake is the pillar of strength for his family. Through tough and uncertain times, he pushes forward, remaining calm in every aspect so that his wife and daughter feel safe and secure. He is the type of man who places the weight of the world on his shoulders so that someone else can feel relief.
Blake and his family were looking forward to the new year. With new careers, trips planned to visit and meet family, and to grow his passion for creating custom knives and wood decor. Like many people out there, the past few years have presented unexpected circumstances. Unfortunately, this fun-loving, ready to make anyone smile man was slowed to a stop.
On Thursday, December 17th, Blake stated to his wife that he felt a little “off”. He was, at that time, under a physician’s care. On Monday, December 20th, he was sent by his physician to a local E.R. in Austin to be evaluated. The E.R. confirmed that there were signs of possible liver and kidney failure.
As soon as a bed was available at one of the admitting hospitals, Blake was transferred and quickly assessed. He had jaundice, was bruised all over, was bloated from the toxin build-up and lack of urination (due to his kidneys being unable to filter), was shaking involuntarily, and had weak cognitive capabilities. It was truly painful to see him in such a state. It was then confirmed that his liver had shut down and, in the process, was poisoning his kidneys. The doctor said that without a full liver transplant, Blake had less than 10% to live past 60 days.
Due to a series of unfortunate clerical events, Blake’s insurance wasn’t scheduled to begin until February 1st. The only thing the medical staff could do was attempt to keep him stable and hope that his numbers would turn around. However, when Blake coughed up blood, the doctors were concerned about internal bleeding. They sent him to have an endoscopy performed. After about 3 hours, we learned that when they went to take his breathing tube out, he was too weak to breathe on his own, so they had to immediately transfer him to the ICU and intubate him.
While in the ICU, Blake was considered critically stable. He was put on continuous drip dialysis to try to alleviate stress on his kidneys and slowly, the machines and medications around his bed grew in number. With all this happening the week of Christmas, family members flew in from out of state and drove up from San Antonio to spend Christmas Day and the time they had left with Blake.
His dear wife, daughter, parents, and siblings each took shifts around the clock to ensure he always had someone by his bedside and communicating with the doctors. Family members worked intensely, trying every avenue to secure him health insurance effective January 1st. Meanwhile, the dialysis began to help, and Blake was starting to come back. On December 30th, through an utterly tender miracle, Blake’s wife was able to secure the necessary insurance with a January 1 effective date. On January 5th, Blake was transferred to Houston in hopes to receive a new liver. With this new hope, Blake was evaluated and recommended by the doctors for a transplant due to his young age (35 yrs old), the rapid decline of his health, and the gravity of his sickness. When the new Houston hospital evaluated him, his MELD Score (range is 6 to 40, the patient is graded on this scale to determine the need for immediate transplant - the higher the score the more immediate the need) was 39. All the doctors had high hopes for him but, it was merely a waiting game now.
On January 13th, Blake was granted another miracle and went into surgery at 1:50am where he received a liver transplant from a selfless organ donor. The procedure went well, and his vitals are all looking up with this new organ he was given. Our family, along with Blake, realize the gravity of this entire organ donor-transplant experience and honestly still struggle to find words. We each feel solemn respect for the second chance of life that Blake is receiving, at the cost of someone else's. Blake is fully aware of the privilege he has been given to continue growing and have a productive life.
Our family is now asking for help. After the last month of extreme emotions, intense highs and lows, and a new chance at life, we need to help get Blake and his family back on the ground. He is required to stay within 55 miles of the hospital he had surgery at for up to 8 weeks and have a 24-hour caretaker. His wife and daughter and all family members live in either San Antonio or Austin and are currently taking shifts again to be those caretakers for Blake in Houston. All donations to this fundraiser will go towards hospital bills, medications and treatment copays, temporary living expenses for those two months, gas to and from Houston, time off work, as well as for Blake to continue his rehabilitation treatment once he's recovered from surgery. Any donations will be deeply and immensely appreciated.
Blake and his family were looking forward to the new year. With new careers, trips planned to visit and meet family, and to grow his passion for creating custom knives and wood decor. Like many people out there, the past few years have presented unexpected circumstances. Unfortunately, this fun-loving, ready to make anyone smile man was slowed to a stop.
On Thursday, December 17th, Blake stated to his wife that he felt a little “off”. He was, at that time, under a physician’s care. On Monday, December 20th, he was sent by his physician to a local E.R. in Austin to be evaluated. The E.R. confirmed that there were signs of possible liver and kidney failure.
As soon as a bed was available at one of the admitting hospitals, Blake was transferred and quickly assessed. He had jaundice, was bruised all over, was bloated from the toxin build-up and lack of urination (due to his kidneys being unable to filter), was shaking involuntarily, and had weak cognitive capabilities. It was truly painful to see him in such a state. It was then confirmed that his liver had shut down and, in the process, was poisoning his kidneys. The doctor said that without a full liver transplant, Blake had less than 10% to live past 60 days.
Due to a series of unfortunate clerical events, Blake’s insurance wasn’t scheduled to begin until February 1st. The only thing the medical staff could do was attempt to keep him stable and hope that his numbers would turn around. However, when Blake coughed up blood, the doctors were concerned about internal bleeding. They sent him to have an endoscopy performed. After about 3 hours, we learned that when they went to take his breathing tube out, he was too weak to breathe on his own, so they had to immediately transfer him to the ICU and intubate him.
While in the ICU, Blake was considered critically stable. He was put on continuous drip dialysis to try to alleviate stress on his kidneys and slowly, the machines and medications around his bed grew in number. With all this happening the week of Christmas, family members flew in from out of state and drove up from San Antonio to spend Christmas Day and the time they had left with Blake.
His dear wife, daughter, parents, and siblings each took shifts around the clock to ensure he always had someone by his bedside and communicating with the doctors. Family members worked intensely, trying every avenue to secure him health insurance effective January 1st. Meanwhile, the dialysis began to help, and Blake was starting to come back. On December 30th, through an utterly tender miracle, Blake’s wife was able to secure the necessary insurance with a January 1 effective date. On January 5th, Blake was transferred to Houston in hopes to receive a new liver. With this new hope, Blake was evaluated and recommended by the doctors for a transplant due to his young age (35 yrs old), the rapid decline of his health, and the gravity of his sickness. When the new Houston hospital evaluated him, his MELD Score (range is 6 to 40, the patient is graded on this scale to determine the need for immediate transplant - the higher the score the more immediate the need) was 39. All the doctors had high hopes for him but, it was merely a waiting game now.
On January 13th, Blake was granted another miracle and went into surgery at 1:50am where he received a liver transplant from a selfless organ donor. The procedure went well, and his vitals are all looking up with this new organ he was given. Our family, along with Blake, realize the gravity of this entire organ donor-transplant experience and honestly still struggle to find words. We each feel solemn respect for the second chance of life that Blake is receiving, at the cost of someone else's. Blake is fully aware of the privilege he has been given to continue growing and have a productive life.
Our family is now asking for help. After the last month of extreme emotions, intense highs and lows, and a new chance at life, we need to help get Blake and his family back on the ground. He is required to stay within 55 miles of the hospital he had surgery at for up to 8 weeks and have a 24-hour caretaker. His wife and daughter and all family members live in either San Antonio or Austin and are currently taking shifts again to be those caretakers for Blake in Houston. All donations to this fundraiser will go towards hospital bills, medications and treatment copays, temporary living expenses for those two months, gas to and from Houston, time off work, as well as for Blake to continue his rehabilitation treatment once he's recovered from surgery. Any donations will be deeply and immensely appreciated.
Organizer
Patricia Hunsaker
Organizer
San Antonio, TX