Gift for Gavin

My good friend Bethany and I were pregnant at the same time. Her little boy, Gavin, was born almost exactly 3 months before Wes. Over his first few months of life, Gavin kind of struggled to put on weight and he was always kind of jaundiced looking. They finally decided that something serious must be going on and insisted on some blood tests. Right about the time Wes was born (about a week later, actually) Gavin went in to the hospital for tests and exploratory surgery.

Finally, after a lot of testing and prayers, they figured out that Gavin has something called Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. It's a genetic disorder than can cause liver failure, among other things. They weren't sure whether or not a liver transplant would be necessary, but they just found out that he does need one and his name is going on the transplant list this week.

Obviously, even with insurance, the health care costs are going to be rather ridiculous. Plus, the transplant will happen at a moments notice in LA, so they have to be prepared to hop on a plane and be in LA within 4 to 6 hours of getting the phone call. Not cheap.

So Bethany has set up a website, GiftforGavin, where you can keep up with his progress and make donations or participate in fund raisers.

This weekend (on my birthday!) they're having a charity yard sale for Gavin.

So if you're in the area, go buy a few things and support Gavin. I'm donating a bunch of clothes and books that have been sitting around in a bag for weeks because I've been too lazy to take them to Goodwill. Wait..lazy? Or inspired? That's right, Aaron, these clothes have been sitting on the floor for weeks because I was inspired to hang on to them for Gavin's yard sale.

There are also other options for donating on Gavin's website, so if you've got a couple bucks laying around, why not put them toward a good cause? Help give little Gavin the gift of life!