Keith Mason's Medical Expenses

This is one of the hardest things I have ever been asked to write. Anyone who knows my husband, Brian aka-Keith Mason, knows that he will give anyone the shirt off his back. Keith is a great husband, father, and friend. He has a kind soul and has always gone above and beyond to help those in need. Well, now his life is depending on the kindness of others.

Back in 2020, Keith was diagnosed with Liver Disease, cirrhosis of the liver (non alcoholic) fatty liver. When the doctor gave us the diagnosis, I told him he had the wrong patient because Keith has never had a drop of alcohol in his life. This is when we learned there was a non alcoholic liver disease. At that time, symptoms were very mild and controllable with medications. Between the time of being diagnosed in 2020 and December of 2022, we were in and out of the hospital several times for complications. In December 2022, is when we learned that his liver disease was progressing rapidly. During this time, he was retaining fluid in his stomach. He could hardly walk, wouldn’t eat, and couldn’t drive. The hospital performed a Paracentesis, which is a procedure to remove fluid in the stomach cavity. It made him feel so much better! He did great for 6 months before the fluid built back up. Since May 2023, Keith has had to have a Paracentesis, on average, every 10 to 14 days. Keith has always worked hard and takes great pride in his job and providing for his family, but since May of this year, he has been able to work only a handful of days. Now, almost all of his saved personal days and vacation days have been used. In June, when he was supposed to be going to work, I received a phone call at 6:30am from the Sandy Springs Police Dept. Keith had a medical emergency while driving to work. They transported him to the hospital where we found out that his liver has pretty much shut down and toxins in his body were building up, since the liver can’t filter out the toxins. We learned many things that day, including what foods he could eat and what he needs to avoid. We also found out on this day that he couldn’t drive anymore, which means he can’t work and as previously stated, now his personal and vacation days are almost all used up. Keith has, regularly, been involved in the activities of our 2 children, son Garrett and daughter Taylor. Due to his illness, he can no longer support, participate in, or assist with, our children's activities. He feels as if he is missing an important chapter in our teenage children's lives. Garrett is working full time and has stepped into the "man of the house" roll as much as he can.

Keith has become very frail, his health is severely compromised, and he can’t complete simple day to day tasks without help. I am working full time as a teacher- trying to juggle work, working extra hours after school for extra money, juggle my kids schedules after school, take care of Keith and all the day to day household chores. We are waiting for a liver transplant at this point. Once he has the transplant, we will have lots of medical bills for rejection drugs and the transplant itself. I will need to take a leave of absence from my job to care for him, and gas money for transporting him 2-3 days a week down to Piedmont Hospital for check ups the 1st few months after transplant.

This GoFundMe will be used to help pay for medical bills that insurance won’t cover, day to day expenses to replace Keith’s income, and possible daily help with Keith’s medical care.