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Port rallies to help cop with liver disease

North Shore NOW - 2/14/2018

PORT WASHINGTON - The community is rallying around Police Officer Gary Belzer, who needs a liver transplant to survive.

Belzer, a lifelong Port resident, was diagnosed with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in early 2016. As the name implies, the disease is not caused by drinking.

He knew something was wrong when he started feeling stomach pains. It turns out, four veins in his neck had popped at the same time. He had lost 21/2 liters of blood internally, without his knowledge.

"I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what," he said. "People had told my wife I looked white as a ghost."

In an emergency surgery, the doctor had to clamp the four veins in his neck. The doctor took a biopsy and found his liver was cirrhotic.

Doctors determined he needed a full liver transplant; the donor organ cannot come from a living donor. He is on a waiting list for a liver, but the supply is short for livers that are the same size and the same B-positive blood type.

The experience has turned Belzer into an organ donor evangelist. He and his wife have always been listed as organ donors, but his recent research on the subject has made him more outspoken on the subject.

"My wife and I are using this experience as a vessel to get the word out about organ donation because you never know when it's going to happen," he said. "What better way to be remembered than giving the gift of life to someone else?"

Just one organ donor can save up to eight lives, according to Donate Life Wisconsin.

While Belzer waits for a liver donation, the side effects and complications continue to mount. In the last 18 months, Belzer has had three hernia surgeries and at least six surgeries because of internal bleeding.

Belzer's blood cannot go to his liver, so it is backing up and collecting in his spleen, which is now 21/2 times the normal size.

Another side effect of his disease is blood clots, which is causing blood to reroute through smaller veins in his neck. When those veins pop, he has to have them clamped. He usually stays in the hospital for a week because of the amount of blood he's lost.

"It's been an emotional toll for my family and kids," he said.

His sisters have organized fundraisers for the medical costs of his upcoming transplant, which would require him to take eight months off work. He expects to purchase disability insurance, which will last him three months. He would have to take another four months off work,

During his time off work, Belzer would have to pay the city government to keep his health insurance. Without insurance, the cost of his medications would skyrocket from $500 per month to $10,000 per month.

He said the Port Washington Police Department has been supportive through this whole experience.

"They've all told me they're behind me 100 percent, and they're willing to wait for me," he said.

Belzer has been with the Port Washington Police Department for two years. Before getting a job in his hometown police department, he worked as a police officer in Thiensville for four years, the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office for 12 years and in Bullhead City, Arizona, for two years.

In addition to being a longtime Port resident and a police officer, Belzer is also active in the community by coaching Little League and football for his two sons, ages 12 and 14.

A fundraiser was held for Belzer on Jan. 27 at The Patio Bar & Grill. Next month, the Port Gridiron Club is organizing a pancake breakfast from 8 to 11 am. March 10 in the cafeteria at Thomas Jefferson Middle School.

To learn more about organ donation, visit www.donatelifewisconsin.org.

To join Wisconsin's donor registry, visit www.donorregistry.wisconsin.gov.

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