Warrior plants himself at Gabriel House until he receives a transplant

David is a big family man from Texas and gets his pride and joy from his children. He beams as he talks about his oldest son, 25 years old who is in college, his 24-year-old son, and his 15-year-old daughter who all live back home in Texas.

Unfortunately, David hasn’t been able to see his children in months due to his declining liver health.

Life has been tricky in many ways for him, besides being away from his family David has been having issues with his liver from 2018 through September of this year and has felt his life has been on pause.

What David misses the most, was his family and going on trips with his children, like he did last fall to Cozumel with his daughter. After coming to the Gabriel House for a second time to wait for a transplant this past September, a hopeful David wishes to resume his normal life and finally be the person he wants to be post-liver transplant.

David’s issues with his liver first started in 2018. He quickly declined since he was not receiving the best care at his doctor’s office back home. “They would ask basic questions, not spend too much time with me and then leave,” David recalled of his experience in Texas.

After his experiences with them, he decided to get a transplant evaluation at Mayo Clinic that same year, in 2018, which is also when he first came to Gabriel House.

During that time, his declining liver health also triggered hepatic encephalopathy, which is the loss of brain function when a damaged liver doesn’t remove toxins from the blood. Common side effects include loss of memory, confusion, disorientation, and other similar effects. 

As a result, of his inability to focus well, David got into a car accident where he badly rear-ended a car. Since then he has relied on his family to take him to all of his appointments.

One other thing David really wanted to do was get a tattoo of the semicolon on his arm, which is a source and symbol of strength for David. He wore a shirt which wrote, “War;ior” where the “I” in warrior was replaced by a semi-colon.

David explained the significance of the semi-colon to his life and said it is a part of a social movement, which means your story has not ended yet. It is a mental health and suicide awareness symbol and is worn to show empathy for those with mental health issues or for those who have personally suffered as well.

David joked, “I really wanted the tattoo of the semicolon before the transplant, but my doctor advised it was a risk, and so I waited until after the transplant to ask, and they said it was an even bigger risk given my low immunity. That’s why I just bought the shirt you see now.”

In the past, David said he struggled a lot as a youth with his mental health. He worked in his church as a youth leader and found many of the youth struggled with similar issues as well. He often befriended many of them, became close to them, and mentored them through their struggles.

 “It was nice because a lot of them were able to relate to me, and they became close to my family and it was important to those youth who had nobody else,” David reflected.

David had to leave that position shortly after to focus on himself, but the semi-colon still gave him strength through his ongoing battle with his liver.

As David’s liver issues got worse, he decided to come back to Mayo again for a second transplant evaluation this past September. He and his mother, Joan, who is his caregiver, decided to stay at Gabriel House for as long as it took to wait for a liver instead of having to drive all the way back home after the evaluation.

They arrived at Gabriel House on the 21st of September and shortly afterward got the good news he and his mother were hoping for. On September 29th he was placed on the transplant list, received the call that they had found a match on the 30th, and got his transplant the following day, on the 31st.

After receiving his liver David feels like he is already healthier and has a second chance at life thanks to his donor. He feels confident in driving again, feels optimistic about recovery and his life after the transplant.

He said that the Gabriel House was a very good place for healing for him and he is now getting ready to leave to go back home this Friday.

When asked how David coped with his stress, he said he tried not to let it get to him too much. Dealing with other issues in the past has made it easier to mentally cope with his transplant recovery and said he cannot wait to be reunited with his family again.

We wish you a safe drive back home David! We love the shirt and the strength it gives you! Our community is unbelievably strong and our guests are at the core of that strength. Thank you for sharing your story with us; you truly are a warrior David!