Donnie needs a liver transplant

Hi, my name is Donnie and I am raising funds for a new liver for myself. In October 2023, I discovered a hernia in my belly. The surgeon required a CT scan to see how large it was and if it could be repaired laparoscopically or if I needed full on surgery. In the two weeks between my first appointment and returning to see him to discuss the scan my belly area swelled up like a balloon! I was then diagnosed with cirrhosis, and so the testing began.

I saw just about every doctor there was to see GI, Hemotologist, weekly blood draws etc all trying to figure out where this came from.

In the meantime, I’d had 3 rounds of paracentesis (inserting a catheter into my abdomen to remove the excess fluid). The difficult part was I kept leaking fluid, sometimes for a few weeks and as it filled back up became near impossible to breathe.

I did end up getting an appointment with a highly recommended Hepatologist (liver specialist). I was lucky enough to get my appointment move up by three months- from May 30 to February 6!

During my appointment we went over all of my notes, tests, medications at the time. He told my husband and I that we needed to make a five hour drive to San Francisco and be admitted to the hospital immediately.

it was also discussed that I did in fact need a liver transplant and during my time in the hospital more tests would be done and the current goal was to be accepted to the transplant list.

Most thankfully I’ve been accepted onto the list; but am still working on a few things before I could ever get the call. Once the transplant has taken place, we must stay locally in San Francisco for at least 30 days continuously and have multiple appointments at the hospital, many meds, and many changes to those meds.

The good news we do finally now have a diagnosis for my cirrhosis- autoimmune hepatitis, which causes liver failure. No one in my family has any sort of auto immune disease. 

While at the hospital they performed a TIPS procedure to keep me from needing more paracentesis. In total I’ve had 6 rounds of paracentesis for a total of 44 liters of fluid. 

I am still waiting to go back and have my hernia repaired.

As I’m sure you can imagine, this has been and is going to be an expensive experience that will be life long. Any donations would be more than gratefully appreciated.

I will keep you informed of any updates. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.