Hello, my name is Kristen Martinez and I am raising money for my co-worker Jodi Whittaker. On 06/29/23 she took her husband to the ER because she thought he was having a stroke. Instead, he was diagnosed with Hepatic Encephalopathy caused by high levels of ammonia in the body that have not been filtered by the liver. For those who know Jodi and Bud, several years ago Bud was diagnosed with dementia. The doctors never checked his ammonia levels. The symptoms of his illness are anxiety, irritability, cognitive impairment, confused thinking or judgment, coordination and balance problems, difficulty concentrating, short attention span, mood/personality changes and muscle twitching. He’s had all of these symptoms for several years and doctors now suspect that his ammonia levels were slowly rising as his liver continued to fail. Doctors have informed them that he needs a liver transplant and he is currently in the process of getting on the liver transplant list. This week, Jodi and Bud met with the transplant team and they have ordered many tests to help determine what their next steps will be. Meanwhile, the medical bills have started to pour in totaling almost $5,000. Bud is also on 9 expensive medicines a day, 1 that has to be taken every 6 hours. Since Bud’s early onset dementia diagnosis, he hasn’t been able to work and Jodi is solely supporting their household. He is also no longer able to drive. Jodi will need to take time off to be his medical advocate and drive him to every appointment. FMLA will protect her job, but the time she misses will be unpaid as PTO is limited. This will put a huge strain on their finances as their savings has already been depleted due to Bud’s prior diagnosis. The light at the end of the tunnel? Doctors are pretty sure that once Bud gets a liver transplant, the dementia symptoms will go away as his ammonia levels will stabilize! As you can imagine, this journey will be a long, scary and expensive one. Jodi and Bud need a little help from their friends and loved ones to help them navigate this path. Any money raised here will be used for medical bills and expenses related to Bud’s illness and recovery. Jodi and Bud are also hoping for a live liver donor. If you are healthy, willing, and able to get tested, I will be updating this page with the process as soon as we know more details. If you’re not able to donate, please share this with others so more people know that Bud and Jodi need some extra love! Thank you!
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