As some of you may know, my sister Dee has been fighting the end-stage liver disease for the last few months. As of now, we’re running on borrowed time and we are in desperate need of your help. She has finally completed all her pre-transplant medical tests to be approved for a liver transplant. The team of doctors and advisors at Tampa General Hospital will be meeting on Tuesday, June 20, 2022, to decide whether she is financially able to maintain her health and independence after the transplant. We need to provide proof that she has access to at least $20,000 to support herself over the next year in terms of medical treatment, follow-up appointments, and daily living expenses ranging from rent, transportation, food, medications, and co-payments, deductibles for health insurance, and hospital bills. Unfortunately, if we are unable to prove financial stability through family support and donations by Tuesday, June 20, 2022, she will be denied a transplant, ultimately putting an end to our borrowed time. She has been fighting tooth and nail since her diagnosis on March 2, 2022, and has maintained the most positive attitude I have ever witnessed in anyone under these circumstances. She has been treated/admitted countless times at Bay State Hospital in Clearwater, FL, and is now being treated at Tampa General Hospital. She has spent several weeks admitted and countless days in and out of the ER for blood transfusions along with Paracentesis procedures “draining her stomach of several pounds of fluid” per week along with other medical procedures that come with this disease.
The doctors as well as Dee have put forth every ounce of effort to heal her liver with no luck. Over the course of the last 3 months, she has experienced so much financial hardship as she lives paycheck to paycheck, making just enough to get by. She was admitted on Monday, June 13th (4th admittance), and will be unable to leave until a decision is made by those in charge of her life; the effort that the doctors and nurses are currently putting in is the only thing keeping her alive. We are grateful that she has FMLA but unfortunately, she will lose this as well as her job and health insurance in 10 weeks. Over the course of the days/weeks ahead, we will continue to update everyone on Dee’s status. Any donations, large or small, would mean the world to our family during these trying times as these donations are what will save her life. Thank you in advance for any help that you may be able to provide. Family and friends of Deborah Lemieux are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with transplantation.

Deborah 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.