March 14, 2020

I have a donor!!!

As you may remember, I posted a letter on Facebook about a year ago, letting you know about my dying liver and my hope of finding a live liver donor. Though remaining hopeful, I was starting to feel a little defeated. Beautiful people, some of whom I hadn’t seen in decades, offered their liver to donate, but time after time, they were pronounced unsuitable for me. It was a life-changing process in a powerfully positive way, but lacking the results I had hoped for. Then, along came Sadie!!!

Please celebrate with me the incredible generosity of my stepdaughter, Sadie Pryor. She has come forward to help me by offering me a piece of her liver. She will be saving my life.

There is nothing I can do for her that even comes close to what she is doing for me, but I can give her all of my love and gratitude. And I am hoping this wonderful community can help her with some of the costs she will incur as a result of her generosity.

Here’s an example of the kind of person that she is: she has been undergoing extensive testing and screenings to assess her suitability as a donor since September of 2019, but she didn’t tell me anything about it until very recently. She didn’t want me to get my hopes up and then possibly be let down if the surgery were not approved . Her selflessness is awe inspiring to me.

In addition to her 8-hour surgery, she will be missing 12 weeks of wages while she recovers. Her work requires very heavy lifting and because of this, the surgery requires extra time to heal. She has two cats, one of whom needs weekly injections. She pays rent, utilities, etc. with no roommate to share the burden. Additionally, she has had to fly up from SC to Baltimore twice already, with a final round trip for the actual surgery. Flights from her small airport cost between $700 and $1,600 depending on how far in advance she can schedule. Hotel rooms for her, her mother, and her partner all add up to a significant drain on her modest income and mine. I am also prohibited by law from giving her financial assistance lest it be construed as “paying for an organ.”

That’s why I need your support. Currently, we are scheduled for surgery on April 7th, and we hope it won’t be postponed because of the Corona virus.. Sadie will need financial assistance regardless. Can you help her? In this uncertain time where we are now forced to distance ourselves physically from others, consider this a unique opportunity to engage in a deeply meaningful connection with a virtual stranger. Sadie deserves it more than anyone I know. Your donation is tax deductible, which is a great perk, and Sadie gets reimbursed only for certain surgery-related expenses. There is no personal monetary gain involved.

So very many of you, my wonderful friends, have already offered so much love and support when I really needed it. Thank you! I hope this is the last time I will need to ask for your help.

Saying “thank you”, “bless you “, “with the deepest gratitude “— now I know why people say that there are no words to describe what I want to say to you. So I will say what Bob Dylan said so beautifully:

“May God’s blessings keep you always, may your wishes all come true. May you always do for others, and let others do for you.”

❤️❤️❤️ Julie