April 4, 2023

Transplant Update

December 27, 2022 --

around 4am, they got “the call” for a new liver. They were due at the hospital by 5pm. Heather spent the day getting paperwork ready and checking the “hospital bag”. She also said she spent the ride to Jefferson in peace.

Once at the hospital, in the transplant unit, they were greeted with 5 RN’s and 2 doctors. Surgery was scheduled for midnight! At 10:30pm, one of the doctors came in and looked grim. Surgery was a no-go. Staying positive, they looked at it as a “test run”, and that the liver was not the one God wanted her to have.

February 16, 2023 –

Since late January, Heather had been retaining more fluid again, like 40+ pounds. The GI doctor sent her to the hospital to get the fluid drained again. While in the hospital for the fluid, they got a call for a liver. Accepted! Within 12 hours of the call Heather was in surgery and got her new liver. She had a couple small issues that needed to be cleared up before being released, so she ended up staying almost 3 weeks in the hospital but was able to come home early March. They are still watching her kidney function to make sure she doesn’t need a kidney transplant also. Since coming home, she has lost over 50 pounds of water and feels better, praise God. Medications are crazy. She came home with 26 medications, but they have been able to reduce that by 3 so far. She still has issues with some memory and word recognition but we will get there!

Jefferson Pharmacy has helped with at least 1 medication. The monthly copay was over $7,000 but they found a grant that pays for the costs. Thank you, Jefferson. That however is only 1 of her medications. Any help you can give towards the medication cost would be a blessing. HelpHopeLive keeps the funds and as the copays come in, they will use the money from the account to defray the costs. Some of the medications are lifetime.

Please say a prayer for the family who lost a loved one in order for Heather to live and remember to hug the ones you love.

Thank you to all that donated and to HelpHopeLive.com for giving Heather an avenue to submit bills for payment.