LUNG TRANSPLANT NEEDED!
Donald A. Holbrook Sr. was born in Somerville, NJ on July 15, 1947 to dairy farmers. He grew up on the farm throughout high school. After graduation, he enlisted in the US Air Force and served active duty from 1966 through 1970 with one year in Vietnam. After his discharge he had two years of reserve duty.
Updates (2)
April 13, 2019
Our experience through lung transport has been a long and twisted journey. Although the start with the lung transport On December 9, 2018 was without a hitch, we've had several hitches along the 4 month recovery. On January 9th, Don had trouble breathing. We took him to the ER in Somers Point, NJ. Don's kidneys had shut down, his blood pressure was critically low. When the doctor called the local imaging center to get CT results from 5 days previous, it was found that he was collecting fluid around his heart! Temple doctors never got the written report. He was flown by Helicopter from Somers Point to Temple in Philadelphia. Don almost died three times that day. When he got to Temple, a cardiac surgeon put in a drain and took 2 Liters of fluid out of his pericardium and like magic, he felt much better. He had suffered both pulmonary effusion and cardiac tamponade. 8 days later he went home a much happier and healthier man. February came along and his lung kept getting better and better. On the 18th, he was admitted back into Temple's ER with a little spot of infection on his incision, they opened the top areas and cleaned out infection. The wound was left open with a vacuum pump. Today, the wound is almost closed with no new signs of infection. He is getting out and about without breathing problems and Don is even doing light yard chores, enjoying life! We hope we are past the hiccups and have smooth sailing in our futures! Our medical bills are just a fraction of what we expected, but still putting pressure on the budget. All donations will be greatly appreciated and will relieve the pressure on our financial debt. Thank you.
December 14, 2018
Don got THE phone call Sunday morning, Dec. 9, 2018, at 5 am. We got stuff together and made it to the hospital by 7:30 am. At 11:30 am they collected him to go to the surgery prep room. About 2 pm, his surgeon went by the waiting room saying they just got the lung and would be in surgery. By 5:30-6:00 he was out of surgery. Everything went well with no complications. Day by day Don got better, all tubes and ventilators have been removed and except for a small blood clot in one leg, he is rearing to get home. He will go home with blood thinner as well as his anti-rejection medicine may be as early as Monday or Tuesday! Please donate to his fundraiser so we are not crippled by these bills. Thank you so much doe the donations thus far and the many well wishes and prayers.
