Donald Needs Your Help
Things have changed in the last few years. Donnie is no longer the “mean bus driver” he is now only driving on a part time basis for another school district.
Updates (6)
April 2, 2019
On February 22, 2018 Donnie received his life saving gift. He received his new liver and kidney in a surgery that took over 18 hours. It has been a long hard road for us this past year. Right from the start Donnie contracted the CMV virus that can be very deadly for transplant patients. I gave him my cold that i had just 2 months out. He had some issues when they went to pull the final drain out between his liver and bile duct. The hole that was there did not close so Donnie had to be rushed into surgery to have a stent placed. That stent now has to be replaced every 3 months. We thought we were on the upswing of things and the outlook was finally getting better but he was hit with the fact that his body was starting to reject his kidney. He had to have a kidney biopsy right before Christmas. With that biopsy it was showing borderline rejection. Along with that came some tremors that started. He had to have an MRI of his brain as well as a heart work up because of issues he was having with breathing and walking. Christmas came and went and so did more testing. He had to have an EEG to be sure that the tremors were not seizures. We thanked the Good Lord that they were not seizures. His heart doctor cleared him of any heart issues so that also was a good sign.
The tremors were just getting worse and the kidneys were not getting any better. February 19, 2019 Donnie took a tumble at the mailbox area in our development. He didn't even make it a year with out something extremely major happening to him again. The ambulance came and took him to the hospital and when they did his blood work they realized that his potassium was 7.7. This level could actually throw him into having a massive heart-attack. They proceeded to do all kinds of xrays on his back including a ct scan and other producers to get that potassium down as quickly as possible as to not damage the heart muscle. That was just when one of the big snow storms hit and we got about 6 inches of snow. I was home sick with a migraine and he was in the hospital. When he was released to come home his back was in so much pain that he could not walk or sit, all he could do was lay. He tried 3 weeks of physical therapy but that did not work so he was sent to pain management. he was given a back brace but that did not help. that Saturday i took him back to the hospital because of the back pain and they placed him in the observation area. while there they did an MRI of his back that showed he had a cracked vertebrae along with alot of arthritis in there, but the Physician Assistant called in a spinal surgeon to look at Donnie due to his pain and he ordered an MRI of Donnie's neck. Upon that we were told that Donnie needed immediate spinal surgery on his neck area. He had a bulging disc,,fractured vertebra, nerve impingement, and bone fragments in his spinal column. He is not even sure how Donnie can be walking at this point. They fit him for a new back brace to try to relieve some of the pressure on his back and he starts PT again here shortly and will go back to the spinal surgeon next week to discuss the surgery on his next.
We have not had an easy road since his first surgery and while all that was going on while he was in the hospital another kidney biopsy was done and he is still in rejection. So he is still on steroids daily and he is miserable due to the weight he is gained.
Right now we take it one day at a time and we pray that the Lord will see us thru this hard time.
October 13, 2017
We just spent three days in Philadelphia. Good news we are now multi- listed. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has agreeded to add Donnie as a patient on their listing for a Liver/ Kidney as of 10/10/17. We are over the moon. They are a very aggressive hospital that while down there getting tested and meeting the Doctors we learned that in 9 days they had done 8 liver transplants. I learned so much whole visiting those three days that I had to come home and get my head on straight with all the info. While down there we also stayed at the Gift of Life House. What a beautiful place and wonderful people. I just can't say enough for either place. Please keep us in your prayers as we keep this journey going. TJUH is hoping that Donnie will have new organs within the next year. I pray I can drive the distance without getting a speeding ticket getting us there
Thank you all for being there for us. We love you all.
Donnie and Ann
Guestbook
September 29, 2012
All of your friends are praying for you!
God Bless You!
Blairs/ Myerstown Pa
September 29, 2012
Hi Donnie, Ann & Matt
I wanted to say hello and wish you the very very best. As always, we keep you in our thoughts and prayers.
Floyd, Linda & Marshall
Floyd F Thomas III / Fort Edward, NY
