Ed's illness began about 18 months ago when he had his first GI bleed that required an 8 unit transfusion. He did make almost a full recovery from this. Between then and now, he has had two more hospitalizations for a severe electrolyte imbalance and malnutrition. He had become just too tired to even eat. He never did get his energy and strength back.

On March 4, I woke up to find him unresponsive in the recliner. I called 911. He arrived in the Emergency Room with another GI bleed, glucose that was so low it did not even register on the meters, and very low blood pressure. After a trip to the Operating Room to stop the bleeding and 10 units of blood along with 4 units of plasma, he was moved to the ICU. By the next morning he had gone into liver failure and kidney failure. His prognosis was very poor. On the fifth day, I was advised to have the kids come to the hospital as it was not looking like he was going to make it. He fooled them! 36 hours later he was sitting up. The doctor told me that "God had to have stepped in on this one". Five days later he was discharged from the hospital to a skilled care facility. His kidneys had begun to work again but the liver was not recovering as we had hoped. It is functioning mininally. He spent a month in the skilled care facility and he is now home again.

He is walking with a walker very slowly. He is trying to eat and can eat little meals at a time. His sugars still bottom out and his blood pressure is still very low. I do daily checks on both of those. His weight is still at only 112 pounds. He is determined to walk by himself again and is really working to try to regain strength.

He is in need of a liver transplant. The lists are very long and the criteria is strict in being accepted to go on the list. They will start that in about 4 months once most of his medications have been discontinued. There is a chance that he will not make it until a liver becomes available, even if he is placed on the transplant list. We just have to put this in God's hands.

Ed loves westerns, anything military (he was in the Army for 23.5 years), gardening, history, well just about anything!