April 4, 2018
Amy’s heart transplant happened on March 25, 2017. It was really touch-and-go for awhile, and due to difficulties with internal bleeding, we were afraid that we were going to lose her. The recovery has been arduous, but Amy was able to step-down from Brigham & Women’s to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in the fall of ’17.
December 30, 2016
After regaining her voice and ability to eat ice chips (Hooray!), Amy was cleared to leave the ICU to a rehabilitation hospital in early December. Gotta get that strength up if she wants to get home!
December 30, 2016
It’s been a tough road after the LVAD implant. Amy didn’t recover very well immediately post-surgery and had to remain intubated and under sedation for 5 days. After that, her vocal cords were frozen and she remained without voice or ability to swallow for weeks. Tough fight.
November 10, 2016
On Thursday, October 27 Amy had a beefier LVAD put in. This involved full open-heart surgery to replace the smaller Impella pump (catheter install) in Amy’s heart. The new HeartWare LVAD is functioning well The doctors opted to keep her sedated through Sunday for recovery- she was running a fever. She’s still on breathing tube assistance and the Swan pressure monitor has been moved to the other side of her neck rather than removed.
We’re looking forward to seeing her awake again and feeling stronger as a result of this surgery. For now, watching and waiting.
October 25, 2016
The Fundraiser Dinner and Concert for Amy put on by a unifed group of Turner folks helped raise over $8,000 for Amy’s fundraising campaign! That’s a lot of insurance premiums, copays, and medications!
It was a great night and a true testament to the heart of this community. Thanks to all who helped organize and all who donated to Amy’s fund.
September 29, 2016
Amy just received a ventricular assistive device (LVAD). It will serve to create positive pressure in her bloodstream so that her heart does not have to work as hard to circulate the blood on its own.
This was not “open heart surgery”, but an external pump that’s connected to an implanted catheter which runs through the heart. It draws and return blood into her body in place of the heart. Hopefully her blood pressure and pacing will stabilize with this assistance.
September 27, 2016
Amy’s heart had been having occasional bouts of “racing” but it would usually correct itself after a few moments. This weekend she had several longer bouts with it and her team nearly needed to administer a defibrillator to “reset” the heart’s rhythm. Thankfully, after two hours her heart returned to a normal rhythm but last night they moved Amy to the ICU so keep a closer eye on this condition.
September 26, 2016
Our fundraising effort is off the ground!
Thank you for visiting this page and considering a donation to ease Amy’s financial burden as she awaits the availability of a matching healthy heart.
Your donation is tax deductible and also doesn’t count as “income” to Amy since it is held in a fund set up by HelpHopeLive and used only as reimbursement funds directly related to her medical care.
If you’re not ready to support her financially, you can always sign the guestbook and offer Amy your words of encouragement.
September 26, 2016
Amy Prince fought a winning battle against cancer– a non-hodgkins lymphoma located in her chest cavity– 16 years ago. The battle was tough and the chemotherapy and radiation treatments were nearly lethal to her but she came out on top. Now, a decade and a half later, her heart has shown the long-term effects of the chemo treatment and has multiple points of failure. A heart transplant is her only hope for survival.
Amy is one of the kindest people you’d ever hope to meet with an appetite for laughter like no other. Today is no laughing matter. She needs our help. The cost of a transplant can be overwhelming.
Amy grew up in Turner and graduated from Levitt Area High School. She went on to a explore her world via Farmington Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, California and finally back to Maine. She is engaged to a wonderful partner, Chris Pillsbury and together they have raised two wonderful children into teenagers. Together, Amy and her family are committed to seeing her through this transplant.
Transplants are life saving but financially draining. Even with insurance, Amy is facing very high expenses including relocation for months into Brigham & Women’s Hospital, post-transplant medications of up to $1,200 a month, co-pays, lab fees and more.
To help with the financial burden of Amy’s uninsured expenses, a fundraising campaign in her honor has been established with HelpHOPELive, a trusted nonprofit organization that has been providing community-based fundraising guidance to patients and their families for more than 30 years. All donations are tax deductible, are held by HelpHOPELive in the Transplant Fund, and are administered by HelpHOPELive for transplant-related expenses only. Please consider a contribution.
