As many of you already know, Anita Sandwick received a lifesaving double lung transplant on December 4, 2017. For those of you who don’t know her story, Anita’s respiratory problems first began around 8 years ago. Then approximately three years ago, after increasingly frequent and severe asthma attacks, she was diagnosed with alpha-1 trypsin deficiency. After many medical tests and evaluations, she was overjoyed to finally be placed on University of Washington Medical Center’s transplant list in August 2016.
While waiting for “The Call” (from the transplant center that donor lungs are available), increasing shortness of breath led her to require oxygen, first at night only, then 24-7. Although no longer able to work, Anita tried her best to stay strong and fit in preparation for the transplant, faithfully going to pulmonary rehab as long as she was able. Then came the forest fires of summer 2017, and Anita’s health declined rapidly from the poor air quality. No longer helped by oxygen, she was hospitalized with respiratory failure and pneumonia in October, and by the end of November it was apparent that she couldn’t survive much longer without new lungs. It was on December 3, 2017, she got “The Call” and was transported by ambulance from her hospital bed in Olympia to UW Medical Center for the lifesaving transplant.
Since that time Anita has remained at UW Medical Center. She was in the ICU for over 5 weeks, due to life-threatening complications, including necrotizing fasciitis (a flesh-eating bacteria) requiring multiple surgical procedures and dialysis. At this time, it appears she may require months of in-patient rehabilitation. She faces so many medical expenses, a huge worry for Anita and her husband, Brian, who has been at the hospital almost constantly. Brian’s health insurance has provided good coverage so far, but as time goes on and the bills continue to roll in, many expenses will not be covered by insurance. Adding to their financial concerns is the fact that Brian has been off work for over two months and will be running out of leave time soon.
To help ease the financial burden, Anita’s family is raising money to pay for uninsured medical expenses associated with her transplant. A fundraising campaign in Anita’s honor has been established with Help Hope Live, a trusted nonprofit organization that has been providing community-based fundraising guidance to help patients and families in need for 35 years. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law and are held by Help Hope Live in the Northwest Lung Transplant Fund. Donations are allocated by Help Hope Live based on financial need for medically-related expenses. Please consider making a contribution today.
For credit card contributions, please click the Donate Now button.
You can be sure that any donation you make will be used only to pay for or reimburse medically-related expenses. We’d also like to emphasize that no donation is too small. Every dollar counts, and we are grateful for any amount you can give. Thank you so much for considering helping Anita and our family.
Pam Wojcik (Anita’s cousin)
