April 26, 2019

Hey everyone,

As some of you may know, I have had a rocky road with my health it seems when I had turned 30 my body wanted to attack itself. In 2010 I originally first got Stage 3 triple negative breast cancer. In 2011 after a double mastectomy, 8 rounds of chemo and 7 weeks of radiation we thought the worst was over. By 2012 I was not able to do my fun run 5k's or even walk around my neighborhood because I would turn purple and pass out. By July 2012 they diagnosed me with idiopathic pulmonary hypertension. This means that you have high pressures in your lungs which in turn affects your heart because it overworks itself pumping blood and oxygen to your lungs and then making your heart enlarged. So, August 1st 2012 they put me on a medicine pump which is the little black bag I always carried around. There was no fix for it, the medication just gave me a better quality of life. Eventually they said the medicine will either stop working or you will be on the medication so long that it can be toxic to your organs and then they shut down and another possible fix when that happens would be a transplant. Fast forward to 2016 and I started coughing up blood multiple times. My doctor started to worry and submitted me to get evaluated for a double lung transplant. I was vetted and educated and was put on the list January of 2018. March 29th, 2019 I was called in for transplant, but it ended up being that one of the lungs was damaged, so it was a no go. Then on April 5th, 2019, a day after my Birthday and on my husband Chad's Birthday, I got the call again. I went down to UCSD again and this time the lungs were good. So, the double lung transplant happened. Now weeks later, I am home and trying to heal. At this point I can't do much yet. All I know is that we need help. This next year or two is going to be a struggle and at the moment we have to travel to San Diego for labs and clinic 4 days a week. Of course, I am not working doing my photography at the moment. Chad is trying to keep working from home to try to make ends meet, take care of the kids and me so eventually he is going to have to take time off or he will burn himself out. Of course, this process is not cheap even when I am insured. So, I am asking for help which I have never done before.

Thanks,

Aunjelique (JEEKY) Andersen