Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.
In September, Nick was diagnosed with severe liver damage and spent that month in the hospital being treated and evaluated for a potential transplant. Nick requested no visitors and that we kept the nature of his illness and his condition private. Nick is a private person and wanted to be sure that his son Anthony, 16, didn't think his stay was a big deal. Please do not be offended or upset if you didn't know - very few people did. This was what Nick wanted.
He was released when stronger on October 5th and spent a week living with Melinda and her family and going to dialysis. Nick was very weak but stable. The idea was to keep his strength up, run a course of meds, work with his GI doctor and get him ready for a transplant. The issue was keeping his blood pressure high enough during dialysis (BP drops for many patients during dialysis. )
On October 10th Nick was taken back to the hospital because his BP was too low during dialysis and readmitted to the ICU. Medically, it was very challenging to get his BP high and maintaining it high during dialysis. Doctors and nurses worked tirelessly trying to stabilize him. Melinda and Tony (Nick's Girlfriend and his Brother) were working with the transfer and transplant team at Swedish Medical Center to get him moved when stable to begin evaluation and hopefully preparation for a transplant.
He was due to be transferred to Swedish Medical Center 10/29 for evaluation and to begin the process for qualifying him for a liver transplant.
Nick had a hemorrhagic stroke 10/28 which started to cause him disorientation and confusion (bleeding in his brain). He was transferred to another hospital's ICU that specializes in neurological intensive care. This type of stroke can often happen with a liver as poorly functioning as Nick's.
He is sedated and been made comfortable, he has been intubated as he is too weak to breathe on his own. Essentially, all of his body functions are at reduced capacity and strength. The hospital is taking good care of him.
His close family are working on next steps in his care. The stroke makes Nick ineligible for a transplant, as it is likely he would not survive any surgical procedure.
The condition Nick is in is very dire. His close family have requested, along with Nick's wishes, no visitation. Please, think of your happiest memory with or of Nick and think of him that way. We know that is what he would want.
We will update via this page as his condition changes.
We also request that when you read this page you do not call or text members of his family during this difficult time. We can use this site as a place for messaging of love and good wishes.
