Medical Costs Grow For Ashburn Man After Liver Transplant Surgery

ASHBURN, VA — An Ashburn man, who had seen his health rapidly deteriorate last fall, received a liver transplant at the University of Virginia Hospital earlier this month and is now recovering from the surgery at his parents' house where he currently needs around-the-clock care. Robert Chambliss, 39, received the new liver on Feb. 6 and is now urging other people to consider being an organ donor.

Chambliss started looking for a living donor on his own last fall because, as he told ABC7, he wanted to live to see his son turn 10. Chambliss said his dream would be to live long enough and well enough to one day coach his son in baseball.

“I want to be able to play catch with him, coach him, play football with him, ride bikes with him and do all those fatherly things,” Chambliss told the news station.

Chambliss, who did not say whether the transplant came from a living donor or a cadaver, said he must travel weekly to Charlottesville from his parents' house in New Market for treatment and that he has about 10 prescriptions he must take multiple times every day.

His girlfriend is keeping a journal of his journey as a liver transplant recipient, Chambliss said in an email to Patch.

Chambliss is raising funds, using Help Hope Live, to cover the enormous costs of recovery from the transplant. Help Hope Live is a community-based fundraising platform for people with unmet medical and related expenses due to cell and organ transplants or catastrophic injuries and illnesses. Chambliss and his family have set a fundraising goal of $25,000 to cover his medical and related expenses.

"Even though Robert has received a new liver, there is still a lot of financial responsibility now and to come," Chambliss's fundraising page said last Thursday in an update.

Chambliss learned his liver was failing due to years of alcohol abuse. “Yes, I caused this to happen," he told ABC7. "Alcoholism runs in my family. I’m an alcoholic." Upon realizing the damage his drinking was doing to his body, Chambliss stopped drinking more than two years ago.

"I greatly appreciate all the thoughts and prayers on this journey. I am so blessed with this selfless gift from my donor," Chambliss wrote on the Help Hope Live site.

Even though he has received his new liver, Chambliss, in the email to Patch, encouraged people to consider becoming live organ donors. He also called on people to choose to become an "organ donor the next time you go to DMV" because "it is an amazing gift to someone."

All donations will be used to pay or reimburse Chambliss for his medical and related expenses, according to the Help Hope Live site. People can visit Chambliss's Help Hope Live page to make a tax-deductible donation to cover his medical expenses.