Big Love for Big Joe

Few may know that a little over a year ago, our dad was diagnosed with cirrhosis. Over the past year, he has had frequent hospitalizations due to the various complications of the disease, including ascites (fluid buildup in the abdomen), encephalopathy (confusion resulting from a buildup of ammonia and toxins in the blood when the liver cannot filter proteins), and weakness or loss of fine or gross motor skills. His doctors explained that with a disease like cirrhosis, the road is long and bumpy, and the only real solution is to receive a liver transplant. 

One week ago today, we brought dad to Upstate Medical Center for what we thought was another bout of encephalopathy. What doctors discovered was that his disease had worsened, and his liver and kidneys were failing. The doctors began working closely with dad, and with us kids, to try to determine a solution or next steps. The conclusion was that he needed a transplant, and he needed it very quickly. On Wednesday, he contracted pneumonia, due to his compromised immune system. On Thursday morning, he had to be placed on a ventilator because he was in respiratory failure. By Thursday evening, he was placed on CVVH, a continuous dialysis which will filter his blood outside of his body, since his kidneys cannot. On Friday, we began pressing the doctors to look into different transplant centers, as Strong, the hospital we originally pursued for a transplant, was refusing to take him due to his critical condition. 

By the grace of God, UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, MA agreed to accept our dad as a patient. On Saturday evening, dad was air lifted by Mercy Flight from Upstate to UMass. They agreed to allow one passenger on the Learjet, so Ben was by his side the entire time. They traveled at 600mph and arrived at UMass in about 30 minutes.

Though we are incredibly grateful that he is at UMass, there is still a long road ahead of us. He will need to be evaluated for a transplant by the team of doctors working on his case. This process can be lengthy, and will require us kids to be interviewed, and several grueling tests to be performed on dad to determine if he will be able to withstand the trauma of a liver transplant in his condition. We are praying that they accept him as a candidate and we can get him listed for a transplant as quickly as possible. 

Throughout this process, we have been with dad every step of the way. We are his advocates, as he cannot advocate for himself, and we are fighting like hell to save the life of the most important man in our lives. In order for us to do this, we are taking unpaid time off of work. This becomes very complicated when adding expenses to travel between UMass and home (Sarah and Clayton are in Central NY, Ben is in Western NY), finding a place to stay (at this point we are booking an airbnb as it was the cheapest option we could find), and continuing to pay the bills that we already had, along with dad's bills. We will do absolutely anything necessary to be by dad's side, but we are now reaching out to friends and family to ask, if you are able, to help in making this process a little easier. We have little idea of what the timeline may be... this could take weeks, or even months. 

We appreciate anything and everything - friends and family are the most important thing to dad, so we know we have a mighty team fighting behind us. If you are not in a position to give, please say a prayer - donations of faith are just as important to us as any monitary donation. 

Thank you for your love, support, faith, and generosity. We will all get through this together, for Big Joe.

Love, 
Sarah, Ben, and Clayton