Elizabeth’s sister has had a long battle with polycystic kidney disease for over 5 years and for the past two years her sister has been on the kidney transplant list without a compatible donor. Elizabeth has decided to go through the process of donating her own kidney to her sister and was approved to be a living donor. We are asking for our family, friends, and community to help us with fundraising for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to help with essential expenses Elizabeth has during and immediately after the surgery. These expenses include costs for things such as transportation, lodging, and post-operative medications. Elizabeth will also have to be out of work for about 2-3 months in the post-operative period, so the fundraising will assist her with being able to pay for flights, lodging, travel expenses for multiple trips and follow-up appointments, and essential bills at home while she is out of work.
Elizabeth has lived a very positive and selfless life, always helping out her friends and family whenever she can. She has always been described as someone who would give her last dollar to someone if they needed it. She has always valued her relationships with people and experiences over money, or superficial things she has in life. For about 15 years she was working as a cashier at the hospital, dedicating her life to providing positivity to those who may be having a rough day at the hospital visiting their loved ones. She now works at Whole Foods where she strives to make each person’s experience and day just a little bit better.
Unfortunately, Elizabeth’s sister has been living with polycystic kidney disease for a long time, and progressively has had a lesser quality of life as time has gone on. She has had more difficulty walking long distances, frequently gets easily fatigued, and is constantly in a lot of pain due to large cysts growing on her kidneys. You would never know this, because she is always positive and never complains, but this kidney transplant is now critical to her survival and risk of needing dialysis as her kidney function is now less than 13%.
While Elizabeth and her sister, Meg, both have health insurance, unfortunately there are a lot of expenses that are not covered to achieve this transplant. Elizabeth lives in RI while her sister is in Pittsburgh, PA (where the transplant will happen). Elizabeth will have to fly out to Pittsburgh at least 4-5 times during the initial transplant and after the transplant and require to stay nearby the hospital for up to 2 weeks after surgery. She will also have to afford to have a support person nearby to assist with driving, lifting, and daily activities as there are restrictions for the first 6 weeks after transplant. All expenses could add easily up to about $4000 or $5000 for just the initial visit between flights, lodging, travel, meals and bills.
Donations to Help Hope Live can help ease this large financial burden of being a living donor from out of state and allow Elizabeth focus on her healthy recovery and long live she has to live after donation to her sister, Meg.
Family and friends of Elizabeth Madison are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with transplantation.
Elizabeth has chosen to fundraise for Help Hope Live in part because Help Hope Live assures fiscal accountability of funds raised and tax deductibility for contributors. Contributors can be sure donations will be used to pay or reimburse medical and related expenses. To make a tax-deductible donation to this fundraising campaign, click on the Give button.
For more information, please contact Help Hope Live at 800.642.8399.
Thank you for your support!
