Billie Jean Larsen

In August 2014, Billie Jean was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis/fatty liver. At that time, she received pints and pints of blood and spent weeks in the hospital trying to recover. Since then, she has spent countless days at the doctor’s office, in the lab, and communicating with several other specialists to help get her well.

On December 5th, 2015, Billie Jean was finally placed on the transplant list. She’s been taking her medication consistently as prescribed by her physicians, patiently awaiting her chance for a new beginning. She’s had her ups and downs but on January 9, 2017, things took a turn for the worse. She was rushed to the ER in St. George because she wasn’t coherent and was turning green with severe abdominal pain. They found several stones in her common bile duct. After being admitted to the ICU for 4 days her attending physicians and transplant team in SLC decided she needed to be rushed to Intermountain Medical in Murray where she had the best odds of surviving a stone and gallbladder removal. The procedure was successful and Billie came out of the surgery the morning of the 1/15. However, since that time she hasn’t recovered. She has a breathing and feeding tube in and her kidneys are beginning to shut down. Kidney dialysis began the 18th and they have ushered her to the front of the line for a transplant to help save her life!

Transplants are lifesaving but financially draining. Even with insurance there are many expenses that must be covered out of pocket. Some of these are co-pays, deductibles, lab fee, transportation to and from the transplant center and relocation expenses at the time of transplant. In addition, Billie will be on a life-time of expensive anti-rejection medications. This is where your support is desperately needed.

To help offset such expenses, a fundraising campaign in Billie’s honor has been established with Help Hope Live, a trusted nonprofit organization that has been providing community-based fundraising guidance to patients and their families for more than 30 years. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law, are held by Help Hope Live in the Southwest Liver Transplant Fund, and are administered by Help Hope Live for transplant-related expenses only. If you would like to make a contribution, please click the DONATE NOW bar.