Help HOPE Live for Kayla Sanders
Dear Friends and Family,
Many of you already know that Kayla Vess needs a lifesaving double lung transplant to stay alive. Kayla is working as a secretary at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, MO. She has also just earned her degree to work as a Physical Therapist Assistant.
Updates (2)
May 8, 2026
Hello everyone, I am coming to you again, asking for assistance as we travel to North Carolina for another major surgery. I will be having a Hiatal hernia repair with Nissen Fundoplication.
Back in January of this year, I suddenly started regurgitating all of my food and drinks. Literally every thing I ate. It has been a miserable 5 months and I’m hoping that this surgery completely takes care of all that.
I met with the surgeon in NC in April to discuss surgery, she will be doing a hiatal hernia repair with a Nissen fundoplication. My acid reflux has caused my esophagus to shrink and there might be a need for the surgeon to cut on part of the left top of my stomach to make my esophagus longer to fit back in the stomach so the wrap will hold and be successful. She also felt an umbilical hernia and might have to repair it. Those last 2 things won’t be determined until she’s actually in there for surgery and just how extensive it will end up being.
My rejection meds will need to be liquids for at least 30 days after surgery. My Tacrolimus will cost me $455 and Mycophenolate will cost me $127. We will be relocating to North Carolina for about 4 weeks while I recover from surgery. We will be staying at the SECU family house across from UNC from May 18th until my follow up on June 12th. The cost per night is $72, making it a grand total of $1872. My up front cost for surgery is $525, with a $525 charge for everyday I’m in the hospital days 1-5. Surgeon states I should be in hospital 1-3 days depending on what she has to do and how well I tolerate surgery.
Unfortunately surgery cannot take here in Springfield as my transplant team is located in North Carolina and I will have to have labs drawn everyday at the hospital to make sure I’m getting enough of the liquid rejection medication to keep my numbers in my range. Liquid medication will absorb different from my pill form. This surgery will cost me tons of money but obviously it has to be done. Acid reflux can cause rejection in transplanted lungs and i definitely cannot risk that.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the years. This will not be a very fun surgery but something that has to be done and I cannot wait to start feeling better.
January 7, 2014
I received my double lung transplant on December 11th, 2013!! I want to thank my donor, my husband, my family and the rest of my friends for being there for me during this difficult journey! I will still be traveling out to NC almost every month for the first year and will be on a lifetime of rejection meds. If you are able to hold a fundraiser for me or give a donation it is very much appreciated. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers during this time, it means so much!
