Day 12 - August 11, 2009 - 11:00pm


July 30, 2009

Thursday July 30, 2008 Tony ate dinner at a local Vietnamees/Chinese restaurant in Las Vegas with his friend and then went home directly after. Tony went to sleep and when he woke up the next morning he realized that he felt sick to his stomach. After the better part of the day on Friday Tony started feeling worse and refrained from eating anything all day as we was feeling sick. Thinking that he would feel better after some sleep, Tony went to bed Friday night and woke up just after 5 am Saturday morning by violently falling out of his bed to excruciating vomiting and severe diarrhea. Very close to becoming incapacitated Tony's dear friend rushed him to the Emergency room Saturday morning where he was admitted at 7am and doctors immediately began work to discover that his organs were shutting down from a poisoning. Docotors started blood transfusion immediately. Tony unknowingly ate food that was poisoned with the E-Coli bacteria, which has been traced back to his Thursday night dinner.

Kidney specialists confirm from toxicology reports that Tony suffered from a very severe case of Escherichia coli (commonly known as E-Coli) contamination which was responsible for his organ failures. Everything except Tony's brain and heart had seized and the emergency transfussion along with heavy intravenous antibiotics saved Tonys life. The gestation period for E-Coli poisoning is between 24 -48 hours depending on the severness of the E-Coli bacteria.

From Wikipedia: "The most famous member of this virotype is strain O157:H7, which causes bloody diarrhea and no fever. EHEC can cause hemolytic-uremic syndrome and sudden kidney failure."

Overview of the Situation (to current):

Each human has 2 Kidneys. The Kidneys are responsible for filtering your blood. When you consume foods, those foods are digested by your stomach and then they travel to your small intestine. In the small intestine the food particles enter your blood stream, whereby they travel in your blood to the Kidney for filtration. The good minerals and vitamins get passed back into your bloodstream to go to your other organs while the bad stuff (waste) is passed to your bladder for urine excretion (to pee). This filtration process is the Kidneys main function. This process for Tony was interrupted by E-coli poisoning that shut his Kidneys down, thus passing the bad stuff back into his blood stream to his other organs, and then shutting his other organs down.

DIALYSIS is a process where your blood is filtered using a machine that acts as your Kidney. Without Dialysis Tony will die in 48 hours. Dialysis or the filtering of Tony's blood right now is keeping him alive until he can have a Kidney Transplant Tony must have a 4 hour Dialysis treatment every 48 hour.

Tony's Sister Shawna has stepped forward to donate her Kidney to her older brother, however; there is at best a 30 day waiting period until all blood and tissue samples can be perfectly matched before the transplant can occur.

As you can understand these processes are of a LIFE SAVING measures and Tony needs our help to
1. Stay alive long enough to get a Kidney and
2. pay for his Kidney transplant.

LIKE MANY IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY TONY HAD NOT ESTABLISHED A MEDICAL INSURANCE POLICY.

This was the large overview and below you can follow the day to day as we find out we will update this page so you will have the latest information possible. Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts for caring and reading. If you are in a position to offer any financial aid even, $1, everything helps and it all adds up. We've setup a paypal account and every dollar, every prayer and every kind gesture is paramount to Tony's survival.

THE DAY TO DAY RUNDOWN:

Day 5 - August 4
Day 5 in the hospital and on dialysis. Tony's father setup a permenant residance in Tony's hospital room.

Day 6 - August 5
Day 6, Kidneys are still not functioning at all and doctors have said they won't recover. We can feel the love and support from all our dear friends. Keep Tony in you prayers. Thank you again. Its nice to see how loved he is and how many people care.
Day 8 - August 7
Day 8, his Liver is starting to function a little and doctors are hopeful it will heal. Kidney's are gone and he will have to live on dialysis until a proper donor is found. Everyone has been asking how they can help. Like many that have a job in the night club industry in Las Vegas Tony did not have a health care plan. He has always been healthy up until now.

Day 12 - August 11
Day 12, Today we found out that they were going to release Tony because they felt he was stable and could go home but return 3 times a week for dialysis. The Kidney doctor started with a procedure to jupstart Tony's Kidneys and gave Tony a diuretic, however; it was unsuccessful and had an opposite effect. The diuretic actually accelerated the infusion of waste back into his bloodstream and Tony's stomach swelled up the size of a medium balloon. They rushed him for dialysis and that calmed the swollen stomach. It was almost instant from a 36 inch waist to a 44 inch waist. It was a good thing that Tony was still in the hospital because without dialysis ready to kick-in there is no telling what could have happened.

They put in an extra pint of blood and Tony finally got a chance to rest. This video was taken after the long excruciating day. He wanted to get an update out to his friends and family who are all praying for him.
CLICK HERE TO SEE DAY 10 VIDEO

Day 13 - August 12, 2009 - 10:00pm

This is Day 13 with Tony at St. Rose Hospital. Tonight Tony is taking a breathing treatment, this is necessary to keep his lungs from getting pneumonia which can occur with patients who may be on their back for such an extended period of time. Tony has been on a cycle of intravenous antibiotics which basically attempt to kill all bacteria, both good and bad. This has made him susceptible to contracting pneumonia easier, so this treatment helps fend it off. Pneumonia is an an inflammatory illness of the lung.
CLICK HERE TO SEE DAY 11 VIDEO

August 14, 2009 9:30am

Tony is discharged from St. Rose Hospital and asked to go to his residence. Tony is in an extremely weakend state and unable to move without the aid of others.

August 15, 2009

Tony is driven from his residence to a local treatment facility for a 4 hour Dialysis treatement. This is the facility Tony will visit every 48 hours until he can have a successful Kidney transplant. This treatment facility will keep him alive for months. At the Dialysis treatment today when the where unhooking him from the machine the hi-preasure squirted his blod all over his face and Tony described it to be be very disconcerning.

Once home, Tony came through the door to see some of his close friends waiting for him. Amongst them where Adam Gould, Bo Karlen, Chad Pallas, Corey Thomas and Gino Lopinto. The group of friends have decided to orgnaize a fundraising campaign to help offset and provide funds for Tony to live on while he awaits a transplant. With Medical Bills expected to start coming in around the 100-300k range, the group is makeing an attempt to raise funds for the here and now day-to-day that will keep Tony breathing.

The group is exploring all options and ideas and if you may have any concepts or wish to contribute any thing, time, resources or other, please feel free to contact the group through the contact page of this website.

Tony weighed in today at 175lbs. Tony is down 40 lbs since this started. He weighed 215lbs the day before he ate the bad food. Tony's body is weak and he is unable to take in any large amounts of water because it would have a severe effect on his blood. Tony mainly can drink small amounts of water, he will suck on ice cubes and a very limited number of solid food that he can actually eat.

August 16, 2009

Memebers were added to the group today, friends, Paul Anderson and MIke Goodwyn who are participating in the creation and execution of the fundraising efforts for Tony.

August 20th, 2009

As many Americans are fighting for their homes, when Tony was admitted to the hospital, he was in the middle of negotiating with the bank to save his home. The donations that have poored in have helped Tony to stay in his home. His family is diligently working to tend to his survival. It will take all of us to keep our friend alive.

Thank you for your continued support, Tony want's to thank everyone for their tremendous support, he would not be here without it. He also wished to let everyone know that he wishes he could talk to everyone, he is just so weak that he can only hold limited conversations before he becomes completely exahusted.

Doctors are going to be looking into his food source because he has wasted away so quickly due to the Dialysis treatment. He has been unable to eat much of anything except apples slices, grapes, and ice cubes.

August 25th, 2009

Tony's Dialysis has caused excrutiating migrane headaches that made him loose vision temporarily and causing his arm to go numb and even imparing his speech.. The doctor wrote him a prescription for Maxalt which is $5,000 so he is waiting till tomorrow when someone is in the office to give him a prescription for something cheaper. All in all Tony has been loosing his strength more by the day and it is wearing down his mental strength. We believe that if Tony was still in the hospital this would have been addressed at the first occurance.

August 30th, 2009

Tony's updated Kidney tests have come back from the docotors today. Unfortunately against our best hopes of his Kidneys getting a second chance and the possiblility of a recovery, at this point it is apparant that any Kidney function and or recover will not happen without a transplant. The Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) describes the flow rate of filtered fluid through the kidney.

Tony's score is an 8, which puts him at a Stage 5 GFR with complete kidney failure. At this point the name of the game is get Tony strong enought for a Kidney Transplant, then test his tissues at that a point (estimated 3 weeks from today) and then they will test Shawna, Dru and his father George as possible donor matches.

September 6th, 2009

Sunday Tony was re-admitted to St. Rose Hospital. The Parametics came to Tony's home and took him to the hospital in an ambulance. Tony's intestines swelled up on Sunday and became inflamed. Docotors pumped Tony full of morphine while they cleaned out his stomach and intestines. Tony was released Monday and able to go back home. The doctor left instructions that if Tony vomits more thanc once, to call it in because there must be something wrong and this time there was. Tony's back at home an will back to his regular dialysis schedule while his body is in limbo trying to heal so that he can be in good enough condition to accept a new kidney.

September 15th, 2009

Tony has been going to Dialysis every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday to continue his blood cleaning. The Dialysis absolutely wipes Tony out and he is very tired afterward. Despite the severity of the treatments Tony has been doing his very best to keep a highly positive attitude and constantly re-enforces the positive things in his life.

What has been so difficult for Tony is this ongoing Dialysis treatment to keep him alive. He is completely exhausted after a treatment for 12-16 hours and then it's already almost time to get his next treatment.

September 26, 2009

Ongoing treatment with Dialysis and Blood Transfusions have been to this point life sustaining for Tony, but nothing yet has been able to change his current course of failed Kidneys.

October 3rd, 2009

For the past 3 weeks Tony has been on a high protein diet in attempts to stop the Anemia. Anemia means "lack of blood" due to a decrease in normal number of red blood cells (RBCs) or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. Most commonly, people with anemia report non-specific symptoms of a feeling of weakness, or fatigue, general malaise and sometimes poor concentration. They may also report shortness of breath, dyspnea, on exertion. In very severe anemia, the body may compensate for the lack of oxygen carrying capability of the blood by increasing cardiac output. The patient may have symptoms related to this, such as palpitations, angina (if preexisting heart disease is present), intermittent claudication of the legs, and symptoms of heart failure. We are hoping that the high protein diet will help combat this and give Tony the oxygenated blood cells he needs. In severe cases of anemia, or with ongoing blood loss, a blood transfusion may be necessary.

 

October 28th, 2009

Hello all. Thank you to everyone who attended the Save Tony Verdugo benifit held at Cherry Nightclub inside Red Rock on Thursday November 22nd. Thank you Chad Pallas, Bo Karlen, Corey Thomas, Dawn Lane, and all who really put it together so that we could raise some dollaras. We had many items from very expensive artwork donated all the way down to meals and car washes. They all were bought and we're very thankful for everthing.

We are looking to hold another benifit coming soon. We are discussing a date now with the Light Group and will be setting up another Silent Auction of items. If you have an item, product or service that you would be interested in donating for Silent Auction, please email Dawn Lane, lane_dawn@yahoo.com and will be very appreciative to have your contribution in the Auction.

Tony is up an moving now, he's able to get around and his body is healing and getting stronger each day. The dialysis treatments are still keeping him alive, however; his diet has changed and become so good that his body is really reacting nicely, He's eating mostly Spinach, protein shakes, grapes, protien bars and tuna. They are really boring, but they are clean food and his body is greatly appreciating it. Meanwhile we are all very positive that his tissue is getting stronger and will soon be ready to accept a kidney.

Thank you to everyone that has lent a hand in support, small and large because without your hands Tony would not be alive today.

November 30th, 2009

Everyday Tony is getting stronger and getting out of the house more often to do normal things. He is still in dialysis and that process is a lifesaving measure. We are all working together to setup the next event on Monday December 7th, 2009 at Jet nightclub. We are putting together a silent auction of donated products and services from businesses everywhere. If you may have an item you wish to donate, please go to the contact page and get in touch with Dawn Lane. She is putting together the silent auction list. We are excited to see everyone at the event. Tony will be there, and now that he's feeling better can talk more to his friends. Tony spent Thanksgiving being thankful to be alive as many other people who contracted the ecoli virus have died in the past.

The outpouring of love and support for Tony has been amazing. This is a very trying time for all of us and we appreciate your thoughts, prayers and good wishes. Please pray for our family and for him as he has a beautiful daughter (Kennessee) and handsome son (Chaz) that need him.

Some of you may not be aware that Tony is uninsured. In order to offset his rising medical bills the Verdugo Family would like to request a donation in lieu of flowers and gifts. Your donation can be made through our secure server at Paypal.

Thank you!

December 10th, 2009

Thank you everyone who attended the Jet nightclub for Tony's event, however many people didn't realize that we had an auction room that held the donated sponsors products and services that were to raise money for Tony. The purpose of the event was to sell off donated products and services of value and the proceeds where to go to Tony so he would have some cash to live off. We will need to hold more social events that are away from the nightlife environment if we hope to be able sell any of the items that were donated to help Tony. If you attended, we appreciate it. If you have any ideas on a forum where we can sell these products and services that would be helpful. Everything from restaurants, to advertisments for businesses, clothing, hyperbolic chamber packages and car washes. We put a good deal of time and effort to organize it and have the silent auction available.

Tony came out and for the first time was felling pretty good and sat with his friends in a booth, he drank some water and really enjoyed being able to be in that atmosphere, even if it was just for a few hours; after the hostpital he has been couped up for months at home and in dialysis every other day, so the experience to feel normalcy inside a nightclub was very relieving to him and he just sat there wedged between his best friends and shook everyone's hands. He later went home and to sleep. Tony is unable to drink any alchohol, or even a Red Bull, although he's gotten healtheir to move about and even drive his own car, he is still on a very strickt diet. At this point, a drink of alchohol might kill him. If you ever have a minute with Tony, ask him to show you where they plug him in for dialysis, it's a shocker.

January 4th, 2010.

It's a new year and hopefully a new kidney is in store for our friend tony. Tony's gotten healthy enough to start living a sub-normal life, he can drive himself and he is eating regular foods that are on a specific diet plan from his doctors. Tony's will to live has served him greatly. The docotors gave Tony a 10-20% chance that he might live when they initially diagnosed his specific strand of ecoli and told him to make preperations as most people with the same diagnosis died past away. With no option in Tony's mind but to live, he has fought each day and he now is almost normal to be around if you didn't know that he has 2 tubes sticking out of his chest that he gets dialysis with. Doctors have been experimenting with Tony as well. He's very happy to be able to have some more regular function and has been using the donation money to pay his living expense bills, home, food and utilities mainly. Each dollar has added up to help him survive right now and he thanks everyone for their help and generosity.

Tony is still without any current job and health insurance, so the donation dollars have been vital in keeping him above water at the personal level, home, food, bills. Thank you everyone!

January 18th, 2010

Tony went back to the Emergency Room with severe stomach and back pains. The Cat Scan showed an enlarged gull bladder and appendix and a small piece of some matter in his left lung. The kidney specialist said that very few people live from this deadly strand of E Coli and do not totally know the effect it has on the organs of the people that have lived. Tony remains strong in spirit and determined to live and beat this.

 

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