Dear Family and Friends,

When I was twenty-seven years old I was diagnosed with kidney disease. I always knew that someday I would need to have a kidney transplant in order to live a long and healthy life — that time is now.
I’ve worked my entire life. I raised my family and have helped to raise dozens of other children for the last twenty years through my in-home daycare business. I went back to school and then worked for my local newspaper as a sales coordinator for 4 years until I was laid off. For the last eight years, my husband and I have been raising two of our grandsons. My grandchildren are a blessing to me, they keep me busy. I focus on them, volunteer weekly in their classes; I have no time to sit around and worry about myself.
Transplantation is life-saving, but very expensive. Even with insurance I have and will continue to have many uninsured transplant-related expenses such as: co-pays and deductibles, doctor visits, travel and the expensive immunosuppressant medications that I will need to take for the rest of my life. I never thought one of my biggest concerns would be money. My father had a transplant seventeen years ago and all of his costs were covered at the time. As of April, I have had over $3,000 in out-of-pocket medical bills. I reached my deductible, but bills continue to come in for co-pays. Stanford Medical Center has emphasized to me the need for fundraising.
To help with some of these uninsured transplant-related expenses, a fundraising campaign in my honor has been established with HelpHOPELive. HelpHOPELive is a nonprofit organization that has been assisting the transplant community for nearly 30 years. All donations are tax-deductible and are administered by HelpHOPELive for transplant-related expenses only. To make a donation today:
Make checks payable to:
HelpHOPELive