Charlene Osmun

In 2010, I was diagnosed was COPD.

I have managed to work with this disease for a long while but this past year has been more difficult. I am fortunate to have been referred by my doctor to the University of California San Francisco Medical Center and their unbelievable Lung Transplant Team for help. It has been a long seven months of multiple testing, poking and prodding to find out that most of me is in good shape, but my lungs don’t measure up. They have listed me for a lung transplant in February of this year, and I have decided to go ahead with their program they have offered me, a single lung transplant.

While waiting for this to come together and as a member of Mercy San Juan’s Pulmo Pals. I am attending their exercise program two to three times a week. This program is crucial for staying strong and as fit as I can be for the surgery. I am not unfamiliar with surgery because at the age of twenty I was injured in an accident at work. The accident was devastating, and it resulted in six surgical procedures of my leg and back that left me with a relatively serious disability. I was lucky because of good doctors and support teams, physical therapist especially. I am ready for this surgery, post-surgery and the rigors of what it is going to take to get back on my feet.

To help with the financial burden for those things not covered by insurance UCSF’s Lung Transplant Team recommended fundraising. I have selected Help Hope Live because they have been assisting the transplant community for many years. Donations will be for medications not covered by insurance and help with the six-week stay after surgery. I am from the Sacramento area so myself and my caregiver will have to have lodgings in San Francisco to be near the hospital.

All donations are with Help Hope Live, Southwest Transplant Fund and are administered for transplant-related expenses only. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law. To make a tax-deductible donation to this fundraising campaign, click on the Give button. Thanks so much….Charlene.

For more information, please contact Help Hope Live at 800.642.8399.

Thank you for your support!