As most of you know, my wife Kathleen Halsey was diagnosed with Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis in 1980. Fast forward thirty-two years — Kathleen’s fibrotic lungs are failing and she needs a double lung transplant to survive.
Kathleen was listed for transplant on February 15, 2012. As we wait for ‘the call’ from the University of California San Francisco Medical Center, we are praying for the gift of life. We’re grateful for this chance and full of hope for the future.
To prepare for transplant, Kathleen has been attending pulmonary rehab at Sequoia Hospital twice a week. Exercising in a therapeutic setting has enabled her to maintain her strength while waiting. Those of us who have been cheering her on are very proud of her determination to keep moving as long as possible.
Organ transplantation is very costly. UCSF’s Lung Transplant Department recommended fundraising to ease the financial burden and defray the many costs that are not covered by health insurance. I have established a fundraising campaign in Kathleen’s honor with HelpHOPELive (formerly the National Transplant Assistance Fund or NTAF), a non-profit organization that has been assisting the transplant community for nearly thirty years.
All donations are tax-deductible, are held by HelpHOPELive in the Southwest Lung Transplant Fund and are administered by HelpHOPELive for transplant-related expenses only.
Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution or sponsoring a fund-raising event in Kathleen’s honor. Here’s how to donate:We are sincerely grateful for each of you and for every kind word, wish and prayer you have sent our way.
Thank-you,
Tom Stitt
tstitt@gmail.com | 650.523.4944
