Tiffany’s Story

Tiffany Tate was born in 1983 and has lived in Arizona her entire life, mainly in Chandler. She was born with a blockage in her intestines and shortly after surgery to correct the blockage she was tested and diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. It was devastating news, but we decided to do what ever we could to make her life as normal as possible.

Tiffany has always had a love for sports and began competing at a very young age and continued through high school. She competed very well and at a high level while dealing with her disease. She was picked several times as most valuable player in soccer and girl’s basketball. She played all four years of high school basketball and was part of two state championship teams. She ended up her basketball career winning a 5A Girl’s 3 Pt. shooting contest at the U.S. Airways arena. She was also awarded the Chandler H.S. first Mike Desper Inspirational Award that was named after her H.S. coach who battled colon cancer and lost the fight. This award was given to Tiffany to honor her courage and great accomplishments while playing basketball and battling her own disease. Tiffany has had to stop playing, but she has not slowed down her love for the game. She was fortunately given the opportunity to show her ability and knowledge of the game by being asked to be an assistant coach at Seton Catholic High School in Chandler, AZ. She loves it and is a great inspiration to the girls. She only dreams of the day when she can play again.

All of Tiffany’s life she has had to do daily routines of lung pounding and breathing treatments at least two times a day. She has had to take many kinds of medicines and had to do IV antibiotics several times throughout her life just to live. Even though she has done what she could to maintain, she has had a continual loss of lung capacity and is now down between 25 to 30 percent. This caused her to be evaluated by the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson, AZ and was put on the waiting list for a double lung transplant in April of 2010 as she is hoping for a better quality of life. It was in Sept. 2010 she learned that she was not going to be covered for her transplant through the AHCCCS medicaid insurance plan in Arizona. State legislators passed legislation to eliminate lung transplants among several others. Due to this decision Tiffany and her family have to raise $277,000 for the transplant. There are many family members and friends graciouly taking on the task of raising funds to assist with these monumental expenses needed for the surgery and aftercare.

Not many families have the resources to meet the financial obligations of transplantation such as traveling expenses for pre- and post-surgery evaluations, as well as considerable expenses required to stay in Tucson during the recovery period. At times like this, the help of friends, family, and community is greatly needed and appreciated to make the outcome successful. A fundraising campaign in Tiffany’s honor has been established with HelpHOPELive. HelpHOPELive is a nonprofit organization that has been assisting the transplant community for over 25 years. All donations are tax-deductible and will be administered by HelpHOPELive for her transplant-related expenses only.

Tiffany has chosen to fundraise with HelpHOPELive (HelpHOPELive) in part because HelpHOPELive provides both tax-deductibility and fiscal accountability to contributors. Contributors can be sure that funds contributed will be used only to pay or reimburse medically-related expenses. To make a contribution to this fundraising campaign:

To make a credit card contribution, call 1-800-642-8399 or visit www.HelpHOPELiveund.org.and insert Tiffany Tate in the “Find a Patient” box on the homepage.

Thank you for your prayers,
Lois and Bob Tate
(Tiffany’s Proud Parents)For more information, please contact HelpHOPELive at 800-642-8399.

Thanks for your support!