Maria Ortiz

Help Maria Get A Kidney Transplant!

Our mom is currently strugling with some health issues. As many of you already know, our mom, Maria, Under went a kidney transplant 23 years ago. The donor was our beloved uncle Jesse. He and his beautiful, wonderful family made a selfless life changing decision, to donate one of his kidneys to give our mom a second opportunity at life! Tia Rosa took the lead in reaching out to family and guiding our mama through this scary journey. Nothing short of a miracle, Our mom was blessed with many more years of life! My Tio Jesse’s wonderful kidney, gave our mother hope, and the chance to see her children grow and have children of their own.

A few months ago, Maria was diagnosed with end stage kidney failure for the second time. She is once again facing kidney transplant surgery. Again our beautiful Tia Rosa took the lead and was willing and ready to donate one of her kidneys to her sister (our mom). Tia Rosa flew out to Salt Lake City and had all the preliminary tests done to find out if she would be a good potential donor. Due to unforseen reasons, she was advised against donating her kidney and was told she would be re-evaluated in 6 months. Mom’s current kidney function is poor, so we decided to form a plan B to have 2 plans in motion.

Plan A is Tia Rosa and Plan B is Mari and Jorge. Mari and Jorge are not blood type compatible with Maria, so they have entered the kidney paired exchange program at the University of Utah. We were recently notified that Jorge cannot move forward with the program due to a past health situation, so Mari is now plan B. This program allows for her to donate one of her kidneys in exchange for a compatible kidney for Maria from another living donor. We were told that it might be a matter of a few months before they can find another family that would be compatible. We ask that you please continue to keep us in prayer.

Transplantation is lifesaving but costly. Even with insurance there are many out-of-pocket medical expenses including travel back and forth to the hospital, doctor’s fees, copays, and the costly immunosuppressant medications that Maria will have to take for the rest of her life.

To help with these expenses, Maria has applied to receive assistance from the HelpHOPELive Southwest Catastrophic Illness Regional Restricted Fund. HelpHOPELive is a nonprofit organization that has been assisting the transplant and catastrophic injury communities for more than 30 years. All contributions are tax-deductible, the property of HelpHOPELive, and are administered by HelpHOPELive for transplant-related expenses only. Please consider making a donation. Every every little bit helps.

If you are able to help in any possible way, we would be forever grateful. Our hope is to raise enough assistance to relieve any medical financial burdens our family may incur. Please keep us all in prayer through this journey we are embarking on. Once again, thank you all in advance for all of your love, support, and prayers.

Love,

Cynthia, Jorge, and Mari, [email protected]