Bittersweet Times

     Hi all.  Many of you are already familiar with the Fletcher family from my previous posts during our fundraising efforts for Tommy's liver transplant.  For those that aren't, I will give you a brief background on who they are and what their story is.  Tommy and Tisha are the parents of three children - Jordan, Austin, and Kaytee.  I met this wonderful family right around the time they first discovered a spot on Tommy's liver (last January).  Having been diagnosed with Hepatitis C years ago, the doctors were always monitoring his liver and it appeared that they had caught it early.  He was sent down to Shands in Gainesville, and at first things looked hopeful.  It appeared that they would be able to give Tommy treatments while he waited for a transplant - the only problem was that he owned his own painting company and had no medical insurance.  This is when we began fundraising for the family.  Unfortunately, each time he would go back to Shands for treatment, there would be more and more bad news.  The doctors advised the family that the tumor had spread like mushrooms and there were now too many to even count.  He was no longer eligible for a transplant.  The family was eventually referred to Moffit in Tampa where they were going to try one last shot at treatment.  After more rounds of testing and bloodwork, however, his bilirubin level was too high and they could not perform the procedure. 
     Tommy is now in hospice care.  He is declining very rapidly.  The hospice nurse advised today that he has 2-4 weeks left.  At this time, Tisha is not employed and between the hospital bills, medical prescriptions, and their regular household bills, the family is having a hard time making ends meet.  I know that everyone is going through a hard time right now with the current economy, but if you can make ANY donation, no matter how big or how small - it all adds up.  To someone struggling so much, any amount helps.  I am personally asking from the bottom of my heart - appealing to all of my friends out there - to imagine that this was your family and to please try to contribute whatever you might have.  I will keep you updated on Tommy and please keep him and their family in your prayers.

"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much" - Helen Keller

Love, Pam