Brian's Liver Transplant Fund
Donation protected
My name is Brian Burnette, and I am a native of Durham, NC. To start off, I was a person who never got sick and if I did get sick it passed through my system quickly. I would say that I had a strong and healthy immune system. I was definitely into fitness, and did things such as cycling, running (occasionally), swimming, and played sports.
The reason I am telling you all this is to let you know that everything came out of nowhere. In October of 2015 while working for a landscaping company, looking for a full time career and planning a wedding I started feeling different. I became really fatigued, which I noticed when I was driving and anytime I would sit down. It really got to a point when every time I would take a seat it would be really hard to keep my eyes open. Even though this was happening I thought it may have been a result of not getting enough sleep.
The week after that I noticed that my urine was really orange and I was constipated. I noticed this while working with my dad in his food truck at the North Carolina State Fair. Just like the first symptoms I brushed them off and chalked them up to me being dehydrated. I finished working the two week fair with my family and moved on.
At the end of the next week I was back to helping plan our wedding, and working my landscaping job. I then noticed that my eyes were turning really yellow. At that time I had no clue what was going on until my fiancé looked it up online. I kept telling her that I felt fine and it would pass, however after looking it up and believing it may be jaundice, she forced me to make an appointment with my doctor. So I set up an appointment with my doctor for Monday of the next week. After meeting with my doctor he really did not know what it could be so he set me up to get tested for other things. That Thursday, I had some testing done at Duke Hospital. After the test they allowed me to go home until they got the results back. Fortunately instead of going home to my apartment I went to my parent’s home. While my mother and I waited for the results we called my aunt, who is in the medical field, to see what she thought may have been happening to my body. After telling her the full story and telling her some of the results I got from my personal doctor, she told me to go straight back to the hospital because my bilirubin number was 19 when it should be under 1. Immediately after she informed me of this, the doctors from Duke contacted me and told me that I had to come to the hospital immediately and be emitted.
By the very next day, Friday, I began losing brain function. I started forgetting why I was there, my birth date, and also the names of the people around me. Truthfully, I would say that was the scariest part of the entire situation. The feeling of losing my mind, and knowing it was sometimes unbearable. I was told later that because my liver was rapidly depleting, the doctors decided to go ahead and place my name on the transplant list. By the blessing of God I did not have to stay on the list for long. Monday night/Tuesday morning of the next week they had a matching donor liver for me. I went into surgery on the morning of Tuesday, November 10th. The procedure was supposed to last ten hours, but mine was completed in four! Within the next week I started recovery. Exactly a week after surgery I was released and able to return to my parent's home. My body did whatever it needed to do to rebuild, and I was so glad to get out. Getting out of the hospital and knowing that I was getting better was a great moment. Since then I have and still am recovering from the surgery.
My actual diagnosis still remains unknown. The doctors are unsure of what caused my acute liver failure. They speculate that it might have been due to an auto immune hepatitis.
There are things that I will never get to do again because of the new liver, but there are also things I will be able to do such as getting to marry the love of my life in July of 2016 because of my new liver. I truly thank everyone who prayed and supported me through that hard time in my life. I thank my family and friends, the doctors at Duke and also the nurses who were there before and after the transplant.
I am asking for these funds because due to the transplant I have accumulated a lot of debt. I was not able to work after getting out of the hospital which in turn put my family and I in financial stress. I would use the funds to pay off the bills I receive weekly from the hospital and to help pay for some of the expensive medicine I am on, and will continue to be on for the rest of my life. I am really thankful to anyone who would be willing to help me in my struggle. I am here for a reason and I can't wait to see what God has in store for my future.
Thank you
-A Transplant Survivor
The reason I am telling you all this is to let you know that everything came out of nowhere. In October of 2015 while working for a landscaping company, looking for a full time career and planning a wedding I started feeling different. I became really fatigued, which I noticed when I was driving and anytime I would sit down. It really got to a point when every time I would take a seat it would be really hard to keep my eyes open. Even though this was happening I thought it may have been a result of not getting enough sleep.
The week after that I noticed that my urine was really orange and I was constipated. I noticed this while working with my dad in his food truck at the North Carolina State Fair. Just like the first symptoms I brushed them off and chalked them up to me being dehydrated. I finished working the two week fair with my family and moved on.
At the end of the next week I was back to helping plan our wedding, and working my landscaping job. I then noticed that my eyes were turning really yellow. At that time I had no clue what was going on until my fiancé looked it up online. I kept telling her that I felt fine and it would pass, however after looking it up and believing it may be jaundice, she forced me to make an appointment with my doctor. So I set up an appointment with my doctor for Monday of the next week. After meeting with my doctor he really did not know what it could be so he set me up to get tested for other things. That Thursday, I had some testing done at Duke Hospital. After the test they allowed me to go home until they got the results back. Fortunately instead of going home to my apartment I went to my parent’s home. While my mother and I waited for the results we called my aunt, who is in the medical field, to see what she thought may have been happening to my body. After telling her the full story and telling her some of the results I got from my personal doctor, she told me to go straight back to the hospital because my bilirubin number was 19 when it should be under 1. Immediately after she informed me of this, the doctors from Duke contacted me and told me that I had to come to the hospital immediately and be emitted.
By the very next day, Friday, I began losing brain function. I started forgetting why I was there, my birth date, and also the names of the people around me. Truthfully, I would say that was the scariest part of the entire situation. The feeling of losing my mind, and knowing it was sometimes unbearable. I was told later that because my liver was rapidly depleting, the doctors decided to go ahead and place my name on the transplant list. By the blessing of God I did not have to stay on the list for long. Monday night/Tuesday morning of the next week they had a matching donor liver for me. I went into surgery on the morning of Tuesday, November 10th. The procedure was supposed to last ten hours, but mine was completed in four! Within the next week I started recovery. Exactly a week after surgery I was released and able to return to my parent's home. My body did whatever it needed to do to rebuild, and I was so glad to get out. Getting out of the hospital and knowing that I was getting better was a great moment. Since then I have and still am recovering from the surgery.
My actual diagnosis still remains unknown. The doctors are unsure of what caused my acute liver failure. They speculate that it might have been due to an auto immune hepatitis.
There are things that I will never get to do again because of the new liver, but there are also things I will be able to do such as getting to marry the love of my life in July of 2016 because of my new liver. I truly thank everyone who prayed and supported me through that hard time in my life. I thank my family and friends, the doctors at Duke and also the nurses who were there before and after the transplant.
I am asking for these funds because due to the transplant I have accumulated a lot of debt. I was not able to work after getting out of the hospital which in turn put my family and I in financial stress. I would use the funds to pay off the bills I receive weekly from the hospital and to help pay for some of the expensive medicine I am on, and will continue to be on for the rest of my life. I am really thankful to anyone who would be willing to help me in my struggle. I am here for a reason and I can't wait to see what God has in store for my future.
Thank you
-A Transplant Survivor
Organizer
Brian Burnette
Organizer
Durham, NC