About Richard Haerther Fundraiser
Our former long-time Artistic Director, Richard Haerther, moved to Baton Rouge in April of 2021 to be closer to family and friends.
This past February he became ill, resulting in 10 trips to the hospital in the next 6 months, spending over 90 days total in hospital. On the majority of the trips Richard woke up in a hospital bed after being unconscious for several days. During the various trips several of the nurses discovered his humor but still treated him anyway.
There were major blood and fluid issues, raising his weight to over 200 lbs. Every other week he had 5-6 liters of fluid drained out of his abdomen, one occasion they drained 11 liters. The fluid pressure caused his kidneys to almost fail and did damage to his liver. The fluid build-up in his chest partially collapsed his right lung; an angioplasty and angiogram were run and the medical team handling his health (9 doctors of various specialties plus staffing) determined there had been a mild cardiac episode.
He is now a candidate for a liver transplant. He has several medical bills plus the transplant expenses. Thanks to great insurance his costs will be about $14,000, not including lifelong medication.