Please Help Save My Dad
Hi everyone,
My name is Nora and I'm hoping you can help save my dad. He's had numerous health issues over the past 30 years and the cost of health care has been a huge burden. I can't take away his pain, worry, and suffering, but I hope to be able to take away some of the financial burden of medical care.
His story may be long, but I promise it’s worth your time…
In 1985, at 22, with a wife and 2 small children, he underwent open-heart surgery to replace his aortic heart valve that was damaged by bacteria he received while having his teeth cleaned. Three years later doctors discovered that he contracted Hepatitis C from the blood transfusion during heart surgery. Hepatitis C causes long-term damage to the liver with no known cure or effective treatment at the time. While undergoing a routine CT scan to monitor his liver, doctors discovered a malignant tumor in one of his kidneys. The kidney was removed to prevent the spread of cancer. In 1998, he underwent experimental treatment, similar to chemotherapy, to cure Hepatitis C but was unsuccessful. Along the way, he developed type 1 diabetes, likely from an autoimmune response related to his other medical issues. He was hospitalized due to kidney failure caused by a kidney stone and diabetes management was difficult, so he was eventually put on an insulin pump to help reduce the damage to his remaining kidney. He later began to experience severe ascites (fluid in the abdomen) due to liver failure and each week underwent paracentesis (catheter inserted into his abdomen) to remove over 7 liters of fluid. During all of this he continued to work full time without complaint, even though fatigue was a major side effect of his condition. He was eventually added to the liver transplant list and received a donor liver 14 months later and must take immunosuppressant drugs the rest of his life to prevent rejection.
Transplant patients that were infected with Hepatitis C prior to surgery continue to be infected following surgery. Immunosuppressant drugs weaken the immune system which accelerates replication of Hepatitis C that damages the new liver (cirrhosis) and increasing the likelihood of needing another transplant in as little as 5 years. Since the number of transplant patients exceeds the supply, it's unlikely he would receive another donor liver.
There is good news! A new drug called Harvoni was released in October that has a high success rate (98%) for curing Hepatitis C and stopping future damage to his liver. The bad news, the cost is $94,500 for the 12-week treatment ($1125 per pill!).
His medical bills have exceeded over $1 million, and although insurance has covered some of that, the financial burden has been extremely difficult. During the past 30 years that my dad has been suffering, he has NEVER used his setbacks as an excuse, and has ALWAYS been an amazing husband, father, son, brother, and friend. He's never asked for help, but I'm asking for your help now so he can begin treatment with the new drug and offset some of the cost of past and future medical needs and share many more years with his wife, children and grandchildren.
Please consider donating any amount to help eliminate a portion of his very large outstanding medical bills and get him on the new medicine. If you are also struggling and cannot donate, please just raise awareness. Thank you so much.
Nora
^Always supporting others in need
^Suffering from ascites
^Post Liver Transplant ICU