Joshua’s Journey for Life

It is with deep pain in our hearts but strength in the grace of God that we reach out to ask our dear friends, family, loved ones, and all who feel it in their hearts to come together with us to support the amazing Josh Mulder. To know him is to love him. Josh has been married to his wife Tami for ten years and has two children, Nick (15) and Summer (10). He is a dedicated family man and provider. He is a lover of all things music and is a talented singer, songwriter, and musician. He has worked at Ruby Tuesday for 17 years, has managed there for 15 years, and has been the General Manager for 10 years. He loves his crew, thinking of them all as family. He is an unbelievable husband, father, son, brother, nephew, uncle, and friend to so many people, and he is currently fighting for his life.

To cut to the chase, in recent weeks, we have learned that Josh is in dire need of a liver transplant. His battles with his liver began as a young boy when he was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma cancer. At the mere age of 11 years old he had a total of 24 tumors in his body, including 12 tumors on his liver. Josh fought long and hard and at 12 years old he was pronounced to be cancer free.

About a year and a half ago we learned that Josh’s liver was starting to weaken more. Since then, it has been an ongoing battle. Since May of this year, things have been particularly difficult for Josh and those who love him. In May, he was given extremely devastating news about the state of his liver. It was at that point that we really learned that this was a life-or-death situation. We were told to follow up with Josh’s primary doctor to continue running lab work and get referrals to the appropriate specialists. Josh’s primary doctor was telling us that his liver levels were improving at an astonishing rate and that there was no longer a need for referrals or frequent lab work. She had been Josh’s doctor for more than ten years and we had the utmost faith in her word, so we breathed a deep sigh of relief.

At the end of June, Josh was in horrible condition. He was losing consciousness, having issues with simple tasks such as writing and understanding speech, hallucinating, and many other very odd and frightening symptoms. He was rushed to the hospital and admitted with a severe case of sepsis as well as E coli in his blood stream that has gotten to his brain. His liver had caused the sepsis and at this point, his liver levels were of grave concern. It was at this point that we learned that Josh’s primary doctor had been reading his labs wrong and his liver levels never got better… they had gotten worse! The doctors at the hospital really didn’t know if Josh was going to pull through from the combination of the severe sepsis, E coli, and state of his liver. It took a week of being in the hospital, but in “Mulder” fashion Josh beat the odds and came out alright. Although, it was determined at that time that Josh needed to be set up with a liver transplant team immediately to get him the transplant he so desperately needs.

Josh has begun working with the liver team from the Institute of Nebraska. While we are thrilled about this amazing opportunity, it comes with many expenses, on top of the medical bills have already started stacking up from Josh’s previous weeklong stay at the hospital, frequent trips to the emergency room, and many other expenses.

It is unknown if Josh will qualify as a candidate for the liver program quickly enough, although he would be able to accept a live donor sooner. With this said, we will be exploring these options as well. We are praying that a qualified donor match may be found through family or friends. Josh’s blood type is A negative. A potential donor would need to match his blood type as well as a handful of other screening qualifications. If you are willing to be considered as a potential liver donor for Josh, please let him or his family know. We would be eternally grateful for your consideration.

We have coordinated this GoFundMe to assist with medical expenses for Josh. He will need to be traveling to Omaha frequently, so there will also be travel expenses, and he will miss time from work which means lost income. A liver transplant is an ongoing process, and the medical bills are going to continue coming in for this family. This is a devastating time for Josh and his family, both emotionally and financially. We ask that everyone come together to offer support to Joshua, the Mulders and their extended family, and give financially if you are able. Even $5 will help this very worthy cause! Please share this GoFundMe so that it can reach as many people as possible! It takes a village, and together we can do this!

If you would prefer to donate directly instead of through this go fund me, you may do so via PayPal or Venmo. An account has also been set up at Black Hills Federal Credit Union in Josh’s name for donation purposes.

Black Hills federal Credit union-Josh Mulder Benefit acct