On January 14th, Dan became ill and we took him to the ER. We both knew it had to do with him drinking too much and he was ready to quit and change his life. He was admitted to the hospital because his liver was in bad shape. We both thought it would just be a couple of weeks and then he would be back to work, therefore we chose to keep it private. We had no idea the road that was ahead of us. I believe he was there for about 5 days, discharged and then 2 days later at a Dr. appointment they checked his bloodwork and said he needed to get back to the hospital. This happened twice. In and out of the hospital has been our life. On his 4th hospital stay, they decided to transfer him 2 hours away to UW Madison. We had so much hope when he went there because we thought for sure they would know the fix. We both had hoped so much that medicine or something would get his Liver to start doing it’s job. It hit us both hard to hear that the fix would need to be a new Liver. UW Madison started the process of getting him on the Liver donor list. It has been a long process, so many physical tests, and so many mental tests. To get on the list they will determine his MELD score. He is currently not on the list and they are sending him home with a list of things he needs to work on and accomplish. Yesterday, they transferred him back to Theda Clark in Neenah, and it looks like today he might actually get to come home. He will not be able to return to work and more than likely we have a lot of hospital stays ahead of us. Since his liver is not doing it’s job, his belly will continue to fill up with fluid. He typically gets about 7.8 liters drained from his belly every 4 days or so. He is also struggling to keep his sodium level high and his blood pressure from going too low. These are the things that keep sending him back to the hospital. Dan and I are both ready to fight this long, long road. We have no idea how long it will take to get him on the donor list. We have no idea how long he will wait for a liver once he’s on the list. One day at a time. I’m ready to fight as long as I need to to get my husband back.❤️
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