About 9 years ago, Luisa was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver due to autoimmune hepatitis. My mother is now reaching a critical stage in her battle with this disease and will be needing a liver transplant soon. For those of you that don’t know, cirrhosis is a chronic disease where the liver fails and begins to deteriorate. Major symptoms include esophageal varices, weakened immune system, edema (swelling of feet and ankles), fatigue, and easy bruising. Luisa has to undergo multiple blood transfusions, paracentesis procedures, endoscopies, and variceal bandings in order to help suppress the effects of cirrhosis . Most recently, Luisa has had to endure the pain of a large kidney stone and two abdominal hernias. Thankfully, the kidney stone has been removed but the hernias remain.

My Family and I desperately need your support raising money to help pay for medical expenses associated with this horrible disease. While my mom has medical insurance through my dads employer, there are still many medical expenses that insurance will not cover. Many medical bills go unpaid and eventually end up in collections. Our short term goal is to raise funds to help cover costs related to current medical procedures, labs, and specialist visits. . The long term goal is to raise enough funds that will help cover post-transplant expenses like travel, housing, and medication; most of which are not covered by insurance.