Family and friends of Rachelle LeGresley are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with a Transplant. Rachelle has chosen to fundraise with Help Hope Live in part because donations are tax deductible for contributors and will only be used to cover medical and related expenses.
Hello! My name is Rachelle and I’m a 29-year-old liver transplant recipient currently on the waitlist for a second liver transplant. I’m from Spokane Washington but had to temporarily relocate to Phoenix, Arizona to be listed at the Mayo Clinic. I was initially diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) in the spring of 2022 and was immediately referred to the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix to start the liver transplant evaluation process.
In August of 2022, I took a leave of absence from work to start treatment at Mayo. I underwent about 4 weeks of twice a day radiation and took oral chemo simultaneously and continued that up until my liver transplant on 12/10/22.
After my transplant, I never really felt healthy. I had infections unknowingly smoldering in my bile ducts for months.
After numerous trips to and from Mayo for procedures to clean out my bile ducts, I became septic. My transplant team decided to try using stents to keep my ducts open in hopes they’d stay open once removed for good.
This did not work.
After 9 months of continuous stent therapy, which involved more trips to and from Mayo, my team had exhausted their options and made the difficult decision to list me for a second liver transplant.
The last two and half years have not gone anyway in which I thought they would. When I took a leave of absence from work in August of 2022, I had no idea how long I would be out. All I could do was hope that I’d get “the call” and have time to heal as quickly as possible so I could get back to my job.
Unfortunately, this did not happen.
I exhausted my FMLA very shortly after my transplant and was terminated. This was something I never anticipated.
At 26 I was doing everything right. I had a job I loved and excelled at. I started my 401k and had a growing savings account for the first time. I received a promotion at work and had just bought my first home, a total gut job, when I got the news I’d need a liver transplant ASAP.
The biggest unknown right now is time.
I have no idea how long I’ll have to wait for a match.
I’m fundraising to help offset the costs of relocating, insurance premiums and recovery.
After my transplant, I will need to stay close to the Mayo Clinic and am planning on staying in on-campus casitas run by a nonprofit that costs $51/night.
I’ll need to stay there about 2-4 weeks post-surgery and will have access to a kitchen for my caregiver (mom) to cook and store food. As soon as my incision heals and I’m able to go home, I plan on hitting the ground running with physical therapy but based on my experience after my first transplant, I will more than likely end up with an out-of-pocket cost as my insurance only allowed me a few visits. Nothing went as it was supposed to after my first transplant so I’m ultimately planning for the unknown.
Like many, I have a hard time accepting help and an even harder time asking for it.
I’ve had a tremendous amount of support from family, friends and strangers the last two and a half years and every little bit means the world to me.
All I want is to get healthy so I can get back to work and start paying it forward!!!
