
MobilityWorks
Accessibility for all: Helping people connect with who and what matters most
Searching...
No results found. Please try modifying your search.
My name is Laura. My husband, Michael, is 35. We are a young couple and have been married since 2016. Michael was diagnosed at 6 months old with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). His lungs were much better when he was younger, but we still enjoy doing plenty of things together. We love spending time with our families, our 2 nephews and 2 small dogs, and going to the Marvel movies on opening night.
CF is a genetic disease that affects the lungs and causes excess mucus and deterioration to the lungs. Most people without CF breathe at 90-100% of normal– Michael breathes at 14%- 17% on a good day. CF makes doing things more difficult because his lungs are always working overtime just helping him breathe. He is now to a point of needing a double lung transplant.
Transplants are life-saving but financially draining. Even with insurance, there are still things that are not covered and bills don’t stop when you’re sick. We started this campaign to assist in relieving some of that financial struggle, as the out-of-pocket-expenses can add up quickly.
Your contribution will go towards: medical expenses not covered by insurance, temporary housing and meals, travel expenses for back and forth trips to Ann Arbor, as well as assisting in expenses back home as I may have to take some time off of work. Michael cannot work, so we are a one income household.
We have chosen to fund-raise with Help Hope Live because they are 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 Help Hope Live in the Great Lakes Lung Transplant Fund, and are administered by Help Hope Live for transplant-related expenses only. Your contribution is greatly appreciated. Please make a donation today by clicking the GIVE button. Please consider sharing this page with your friends and family so they may consider a donation as well.
Mail a Check
Make checks payable to:
Help Hope Live
Note in memo:
In honor of Michael Harmon
Mail to:
Help Hope Live
2 Radnor Corporate Center
Suite 100
100 Matsonford Road
Radnor, PA 19087
For more information, please contact Help Hope Live at 800.642.8399.
Thank you for your support! Generosity helps save lives.
Michael came home March 27th from his 106 day stay in the hospital. Due to some complications, unfortunately, healing was not going as smoothly as we had hoped. He ended up back in the hospital due to high C02 and tacro levels on May 16th and did not come home until May 27th. I felt SO BAD that I couldn't stay there with him due to hospital policies of visitors during Covid 19. Fortunately, we were able to facetime a little and text here and there. THE GOOD NEWS- He is home now and doing so much better. He's eating almost 3 meals a day and is going for hours at a time without oxygen. We are anticipating physical therapy starting back up so we can have even more momentum moving forward. Until then, we take it day by day, but I am full of renewed optimism that he will continue to get better each and every day. Thank you so much for your continued support!
Day 97: We might be going home next week on March 27th!
Michael is in inpatient rehab at the same hospital now. He gets 1.5 hours of Occupational Therapy per day and 1.5 hours of Physical Therapy per day. He is working hard on his strength and balance.
Nausea is his biggest enemy at the moment. It has definitely put a damper on his healing. Unfortunately, nausea is a side effect of many of his anti-rejection medications. The doctors are working very hard to find medications to help his nausea and calm his tummy.
**Updates in the photos- there are pics of Michael walking with the PTs and doing some exercises. He recently got to work with Virtual Reality for Occupational Therapy (which I thought was pretty cool!)
Check back soon for more updates!
It has been 47 days and Michael is still in the hospital recovering from his double lung transplant surgery. He has had several setbacks, but is coming back like a champ. He had a pneumothorax and a chya leak which are both air issues surrounding the lungs. He had to have chest tubes inserted for these issues which required separate additional surgeries which set him back a bit. He ended up needing to be intubated 3 times in total and is now on a trach. He is on the ventilator at night to help him breathe but is making progress every day. We always appreciate the thoughts and donations.
WE GOT THE CALL FOR NEW LUNGS!
Michael got his new lungs on Friday the 13th, 2019. That will ALWAYS be a lucky number now!
He was on the transplant list for only 2 months and 3 days!
He's recovering well after surgery- he is breathing at 99% without oxygen and is up and walking. Left chest tubes were removed, but right tubes are staying in until he has another procedure to check for an internal leakage tomorrow morning. A swallow study is scheduled for Monday to see how things are working and to see when he can get back to eating and drinking.
Everyone is very impressed with his healing so far and his lungs are working great!
Thanks for checking in and supporting Michael!
Update from his last Specialist appt:
Breathing is up to 23% which is better than he has been in the last 4.5 YEARS! Trikafta is really making an impact.
Trikafta! It's a new LIFE CHANGING Cystic Fibrosis medication-- and Michael is on it!! It's been about 2 weeks so far, but we are noticing slight improvements! We have an upcoming appt in December to see what progress he has made so far :)
Loading Images
Make checks payable to:
Help Hope Live
Note in memo:
In honor of Michael Harmon
Mail to:
Help Hope Live
2 Radnor Corporate Center
Suite 100
100 Matsonford Road
Radnor, PA 19087
Subscribe to this campaign to receive updates.
Accessibility for all: Helping people connect with who and what matters most
Building leading-edge mobility products
One of the largest mobility dealers in the U.S.
Advanced medical care and air transportation when you need it the most
Consult with specially-trained pharmacists, get your medications for pickup or delivery and more
All news, and all that matters to you
Your first step to optimized communications
The event for the disability community
Philadelphia's Hometown Bank℠