Brook’s Liver Transplant Journey

It is with a heavy heart that I write this. My relationship with Brook began as her simply being the babysitter to my daughter. Only a year later and she’s become one of my best friends and greatest caretakers to my daughter. I’m sure any of you who know her know that she will do anything for anybody including putting them before herself. This has become painfully obvious as her health is declining severely.

On Wednesday, June 28th Brook mentioned that she was having a hard time breathing and after I was done with work that she would get a chest X-ray. That plan drastically changed as she checked herself into the emergency department. Although aware of her conditions, she’s spent years prioritizing others. Brook has something called NASH (non alcoholic steoto hepatitis). This means that she has the liver of a severe alcoholic, though never has been a heavy drinker. On Wednesday she was told that her liver was so inflamed that it was pressing against her lungs making it hard to breathe. It is also covered in adanomas which have the potential to burst and cause her to go septic. Additionally, brook is a severe diabetic and has fibromyalgia.

My daughter along with other kids refer to her as “Aunt Brook” and if you know her, you understand why. If you don’t know her, I ask that you trust me when I say that there is no other woman more deserving of help while she finally prioritizes her health. The next step in her treatment is to get BACK on a liver transplant list. This will involve many trips to Pittsburgh. To keep daycare affordable, she’s put off fixing the air conditioning in her car (go figure another thing that she puts others above herself).

We all know how expensive gas is too. If you’re in a place to donate any amount to help this amazing woman out, we would be eternally grateful. If you can’t, a share of this would also be so appreciated. Let’s work together to get this woman feeling like herself again after so many years of putting others before herself.