Caleb Knaack

Hi, I am Caleb's Mom and I flew out from Virginia to Bellingham, WA last week because I knew something was wrong with Caleb.

When I arrived I was startled by his appearance and his health. He quickly went downhill after being very ill off and on for the last few weeks. When we arrived on Thursday to his house and I saw him looking very unwell. I tried to convince him to let me take him to urgent care or an ER but he kept insisting he was getting better. I again asked the next day, which was Friday, he insisted again, that he would be okay.

On Saturday he became very confused when my son and I tried to talk to him or ask him questions. He was also vomiting and had been vomiting for over a week off and on. When it became clear something dangerous was happening and he that he was in a confused state I called for an ambulance to come to his house.

By the time we arrived at the hospital he could not coherently answer the doctors questions and within a few hours he stopped responding altogether and he did not recognize me.

His electrolytes were dangerously out of whack and his kidneys were shutting down. His lactate levels were dangerously high and the doctors feared seizures. His potassium and sodium levels were also dangerously abnormal and if we had not been there he would have died as he was not able to call for help or even recognize how sick he actually was until it was too late.

Thankfully the Mom intuition kicked in and I flew out when I did and that Sammy and I were there at his house when things became critical and scary.

He will be unable to work as he was put in the ICU for several days with the focus on getting his electrolytes stabilized. The doctors have determined he is diabetic type 2 and yet, something else underlying is causing this along with some other symptoms. They continue to work him up to get a formal diagnosis.

He had been off work for several weeks already due to being sick and was living off of his savings.

Since he cannot return to the job he had previously he will need to focus on getting healthy and seeing specialist once he is discharged. Then he can focus on his career goals and what he will do. He may have the option of returning to his prior job, but that is not the healthiest job for him with the diagnosis he has and requires a lot of switching from days to overnight shifts and long, long hours and ma mandatory overtime.

He will need months of recovery and help with rent, utilities, healthy food and medical costs.

We don't know what he will qualify for in assistance and will work at getting him as much assistance through whatever organizations are available. Before this illness happened he was working and supporting himself along with his cat and precious dog, Pico.

It a blessing to see how many friends from his childhood and friends of the family have reached to out to ask me how he is doing.

We have had multiple people ask about setting up a “Go Fund Me” for him. I talked to him about it and was able to get his approval.

I know any contributions made will be put to use in a way that he can focus on healing, learning to manage his diabetes, and whatever else they diagnose him with. These funds will enable him to move forward in life. It will also help him maintain some independence.

We all need help in our lives and people want to help one another, this is a way to show Caleb that he is cared for and loved! I strongly believe that he will continue to go on and can do great things, this is a bump in the road, but he is stronger than he realizes and with a little help, can survive this, maintain his independence and thrive. We just gotta get him through this!

As any parent knows seeing your child suffer is the hardest thing and we want to fix it or make it better. I will be paying his rent, all utilities and cost of living expenses while he recovers and learns how to manage this disease. Any funds donated will be going to these expenses.

Thank you for your prayers and support! I will update as he allows and for now he continues to be hospitalized at Peace Health, Saint Joseph hospital in Bellingham, WA.