For more information, please contact Help Hope Live at 800.642.8399.

Background:

My daughter Erika was on a youth trip with our church at age 15. Playing basketball one day, she doubled over in pain and was rushed to the hospital. By the time she arrived, both of her kidneys had shut down and died. Prior to this, the only problem we knew of was border line anemia. She ended up on dialysis and in intensive care for a month. The doctors didn’t know why her kidneys shut down. They assumed she had a Vasculitis Disease but there are many. Unable to determine which one, they concentrated on stabilizing her and trying to narrow down what they knew it wasn’t. After a month they decided she was stable enough to be medically flown home to University of Maryland Hospital, in our home state. She remained on Dialysis for two years, of which she averaged an infection a month in her pic lines and ports used for dialysis. She had a Fistula put in her arm, when she was strong enough for the next surgery. She also received a couple chemo therapy treatments to try and freeze the disease throughout the years. We were told by a doctor of her transplant team that there was a renowned hospital in Atlanta, Georgia known for transplants. We sold our home and packed up our life and moved to Georgia, in hopes of getting the best possible care and treatment for our daughter. We went through the long difficult process of getting on the Kidney Transplant list and raising money to cover what insurance does not. Finally in 2007, she received a kidney that took several months to start working in her body, during which time she remained on dialysis until the kidney started properly functioning. She was never completely out of the woods, having several complications, hospital stays, and damage to her heart, lungs and liver. Erika continued to work hard graduating high school and going to college while always maintaining at least one job. In 2011, we were told that she had a new condition attacking the kidney, slowly killing it. In December 2013 she discovered after a couple complications, that she was violently ill because the kidney had died and poisoned her entire body. Erika was put back on dialysis and placed in ICU for a few weeks until she was stable to return home again. She struggles constantly coping with her dangerously high heart rate and erratic blood pressure, which cardiologists are trying to determine why. Over the past few years Erika has continued to have issues because of dialysis enduring multiple surgeries a year to maintain her graft even the removal of her parathyroids because dialysis wasn’t enough to keep up. Erika continues to work hard despite the struggles that arise with her condition.

Why Funds are Needed:

Erika has now been back on dialysis for over 7 years. She needs to again start this long process and raise a money in order to stay active and receive the transplant. Due to dialysis she can only work on a part time basis and does not have a job that provides insurance coverage. She is on Medicare due to renal failure, and they only cover around 80% of medical costs. The cost of transplant surgery is approximately $250,000 the first year alone. Anti-rejection drugs can cost up to $2,500 a month. She will be responsible for approximately 20% of the cost of the transplant of which she needs to have at least 1/3 of this in an account prior to the transplant. In order to stay active on the transplant list she is required to maintain a certain amount of money with Help Hope Live unless she gets a second form of medical insurance which she currently doe not qualify for. The money used from a fund raiser will be put towards her out of pocket expenses like co-pays, follow-up care, prescriptions and costs leading up to and after transplant, including finding her a donor and paying for her life sustaining dialysis treatments.

Erika is now 30 years old and loves life, but her body doesn’t let her do all she’d like to. Dialysis is what keeps her alive and going but has its disadvantages. She does dialysis at home with her the help her of her husband five days a week. She has learned to stick her self with two needles per treatment and run the machine and codes to keep everything running. Despite everything her spirit remains hopeful. We are asking for help to try and raise money for our daughter and give her another chance at a living a full life. Erika is an outgoing and hardworking person who is always doing for everyone else. During the school year, she now officially the Director of a before and after school program at a local elementary school where she has worked for 9 years. During the school day she works as a teachers assistant usually with special needs children. She has a passion for working with children and is currently pursuing a degree in elementary education. She is a member of her Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company’s ladies auxiliary, and can often be found working various fundraising events from lunch with the Easter bunny to Carnival. When she is home she enjoys spending time with her husband and three dogs camping to new places or going out on the water for the day. One day she hopes to be able to travel the country with her husband and dogs. One of the things she looks forward to most is being able to start a family after transplant.

We have also established a Facebook page with updates on Erika as well as information to assist with donations and provide you with the latest status on her transplant. We deeply appreciate any contributions that are made for her transplant and I hope that in the near future I can let you know that a transplant kidney has been found.

I would like to thank everyone in advance for giving your time and consideration to read this. If you would like to have any additional information you can contact myself or Erika through Facebook. Thank you on behalf of Erika and our family.

Sincerely,
Susan Yaruta