Cooperstown Family Seeks To Raise $500,000 For Dad’s Liver Transplant

4-2-10

By LAURA COX : COOPERSTOWN

You probably don’t often think of life’s value in dollars and cents.
But the Baker family of Cooperstown is focused on $500,000, the amount needed to provide dad Patrick with a new liver and a new lease on life. 
Baker, 37, has had his blood tested at Bassett Hospital every year since junior high.  His blood count was always a little off, and monitored. Then, six years ago, he was referred to a gastrointestinal specialist where he was diagnosed with cryptogenic cirrhosis of the liver.
This type of liver disease is called cryptogenic because doctors have been unable to determine exactly what causes the destruction of the liver tissue. Patrick’s cirrhosis is not due to alcoholism, hepatitis or genetics.
He and wife Jessica have a 7-year-old daughter, Caitlin, a second-grader at Cooperstown Central School.
It wasn’t until a year ago that Patrick’s liver disease started to impact his overall health and wellbeing.
“I don’t sleep well at night, so I usually don’t get up until sometime between 8 and 10 a.m.,” Patrick said.
He gets very tired throughout the day, and between that and his frequent stays in the hospital, he was no longer able to keep his job as a universal worker at Otsego Manor.
He has been in the hospital more than a dozen times over the past year, often because the ammonia levels in his body became elevated and he became confused or because of internal GI bleeds. He has received numerous blood transfusions over the last year.
As his condition worsened, Patrick started to work with Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, which has a liver transplant program. He is on a waiting list for a new liver, but his particular symptoms only rank him a nine on the MELD (model for end-stage liver disease) scoring system, putting him towards the bottom of the list, even through his doctors don’t believe he has much time left. 
The only current option is a live liver donation, and Patrick’s brother-in-law, Adam Lichtman of Cooperstown, is the same blood type and willing to help if he is determined to be a match. Live liver donation is possible because the liver is the only organ capable of regeneration.
The problem is that neither of the men’s insurance will cover the cost of Adam’s donation, estimated at $500,000 once the tests, procedures and hospital stays are accounted for.  Patrick’s insurance will pay for his part of the procedure. The amount of money to be raised is cumbersome, but the Bakers’ family, friends, coworkers and community members have all jumped into action planning benefits and fundraisers.
The effort launched last weekend with a spaghetti and meatball dinner at the Otsego Manor. The next fundraiser will be the Patrick Baker Benefit Bowling Tournament on Saturday, April 10 at the Clark Sports Center Bowling Alley. (There are time slots available at 1, 2 and 7 p.m. and it costs $20 to enter, adults 18+ only.)  Other upcoming benefits include a dance at the Hartwick Community Center for all ages on April 17, a Chinese auction at Hartwick Fire Department Company #2  April 23-24 and a pancake breakfast at Hartwick Fire Department Company #1 planned for June 6.
 An account has been set up at the Bank of Cooperstown, where people can make monetary donations to the Patrick Baker Transplant Fund, c/o Bank of Cooperstown, 73 Chestnut Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326.
In addition, the Bakers’ daughter Caitlin has planned a yard and bake sale for Memorial Day weekend at the Bank of Cooperstown – Jessica works there – where she plans to sell some of her old books, outgrown clothes and baked goods.