Sean Casey Williams

Sean Casey Williams was married to me, Krista Ann Williams, on October 19, 2013. As a tribute to our love, I want to share with you a few things about him.

Sean was born to Shauna Lynn Williams and Casey Williams. Sean also has a stepmom, Traci Williams. Sean has many siblings he adored: Vaughn (Gracie) Williams, Amanda (Allison) Williams-Tanner, Ardell Williams, Asia (Taylor) Williams, Elliot Dennis, Rio (Andrew) Williams-Gariby, Cassandra (Christian) Mailloux, and Richie Williams.

Sean was, and still is, the best husband, brother, nephew, cousin, and son! He was about to take on the role of uncle and was so excited. Sean loved his family with every ounce of his soul. That is one reason I fell so deeply for him. His family was his world, and he only wanted the best for them. He wanted them to achieve at the highest levels at whatever they chose to do in life. Even though Sean wasn’t a father, he loved being a cat dad to Zeus, Zoey, and Limbo.

One of his favorite past times included going for a drive in his car. He loved driving throughout the valley and daydreaming about living in certain houses and would take me up to see his dream homes. He enjoyed driving down to Provo and up to Bountiful. It was his escape from his reality. He also enjoyed gaming on his Xbox with his brothers and cousins. Some nights he'd stay up all night and raid, or whatever they did. I was in bed when gaming time came around. He would always tell me he would be in bed no later than midnight which wasn't always the case. I would get up in a panic to see if he was okay—he was fine, just sitting on the couch with his headset on, the controller in his hand, fast asleep. Those were the funniest nights for me.

Sean enjoyed drawing. He had recently started to draw again this past year. Seeing him bring out the drawing pad and his pencils made me so happy as he was so creative. He also loved football and the New York Giants is his team. Whenever anyone would ask why, he would say, "My dad is from New York, and I am the only sibling that was born there." I would always chuckle and roll my eyes, and say “Babe, you lived there for 2 weeks before your parents moved back to Utah." He took such pride in being born there. When football season came around, that's all we did was watch football. His morning news was Good Morning Football. Sundays were his favorite days—football all day. He loved going over to his dad's on Sundays to watch RedZone. Sean, his dad, and his brother Vaughn would plan out their lineup for Fan Duel.

Sean loved playing football, but basketball was his sport. I loved going to the rec center with him when we first started dating to shoot around. Seeing him in his element was amazing. Over the last couple of years, we started watching the NBA again. We had some good times watching and screaming at the TV.

Sean had to overcome many, many trials over the last several years, which occurred during most of our marriage—eight and a half glorious years. I wouldn't trade them for anything. Sure, we had our ups and downs but who hasn't! Sean had a pancreas transplant in February 2017. We are forever grateful to that family for the organ donation. Sean had 3 years of living a life without Type 1 Diabetes and he lived it up. Something as simple as orange juice brought him joy as orange juice was one of the go-tos to bring his blood sugar back up after lows. We had a good 3 years during that time. We bought our first place, Sean bought his first car, and we traveled a little bit.

In 2019, Sean went into kidney failure. When this happened, it was so hard to cope, and things needed to change. The hardest part for Sean was not being able to drink water whenever he wanted as he was limited in the amount of fluids he could drink in a day. With determination, we figured it out and he was so strong throughout that journey. In 2020 Sean suffered his first bowel perforation. The team at the University of Utah Hospital did their magic and he was ready to go home after 2 weeks. He shocked everyone at how well and quickly he healed. Shortly after that, he lost his pancreas. He was heartbroken but ready to take on the task of being Type 1 Diabetic again. 2020 was probably our calmest year of not having to go to the hospital as much. It was nice just to be home and enjoy one another. In 2021 we started the journey of getting Sean ready for a kidney transplant. We were advised he should first have a procedure to help with his stomach issue, gastroparesis.

On May 26, 2021, Sean had that procedure. He had a great couple of days of not feeling sick. May 29, 2021, is the day our lives were turned upside down. Sean had his second bowel perforation. The team at the University of Utah Hospital again stepped in and did everything they could think of to fix this issue. They did! It was a crazy journey after Sean had all 13 of his surgeries. He spent 6 months in total being at the University of Utah Hospital and Promise Hospital. At the end of November, he finally was able to come home!! We got to spend Christmas together, Sean's favorite holiday.

In 2022, Sean spent a fair amount of time in and out of the hospital, but these stays weren't nearly as long as before. Sean did get diagnosed with a very rare disease of the colon, sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis, in February/March. There is no cure for this disease, but his surgeon was willing to try something. I am forever grateful for her! We had a good month together in April. After a couple of years of wanting to do dialysis at home, we finally got approved the month prior. He was so excited for this as it meant we could finally go travel again. We spent a lot of time together with dialysis training and I am grateful for the month of April. We completed our training and had a week of doing dialysis at home. He said he felt really good, and I was so happy for him to finally have some freedom.

May 4, 2022, will be the hardest day for all of us! Sean had his third bowel perforation that ultimately took him from us. He was only given a few hours to live. The University of Utah Hospital was amazing at giving us those final hours with him. We miss him so much. Sean was so grateful and thankful for his mom, who was often accompanied by his brother Ardell, his sister Amanda, and his Aunt Diana. Throughout his time home, they came over to help him out with his daily care by taking him to doctor appointments, giving him his medications, wound care, and simply spending time with him. I thank you so much for not only being there for Sean but for me, by helping me balance work and home life. When I came home you took care of everything so Sean and I could enjoy one another. I am forever grateful for that time.

Sean and I made some lasting friendships throughout the last year. To the surgeons at the University of Utah Hospital, we love you so much and thank you for everything you did for Sean. Dr. Grudziak, you are an amazing woman, and I am so happy you came into our path. You were there for us with any questions we had. To the dialysis team, you are all amazing people, and we love you so much. Thank you for truly caring about my husband's well-being. Dan, Charlie, Mary Beth, Sharon, and Morna I love you. To the Surgical ICU crew, you all were so amazing with my husband and me. You would hold me during the hardest times through Sean's journey. Thank you all so much.

To Sean, I love you forever and always boo boo!

We will be having a celebration of life in honor of Sean on June 11th, at 3:00 pm at 8340 West Hi Country Road, Herriman, UT 84096. There is no dress code. We will also be having a blood drive to give back to the community that kept him going. This will take place on June 25th from 10 am to 3 pm at RSL Academy.