Mary Brown

Please help make a
difference in my life

My name is Mary. I was diagnosed with sarcoidosis in 1989. I never had any major problems with it until 2000 when I had pneumonia. I needed to start using oxygen. I would have shortness of breath and chest pains doing the simplest of tasks like walking from my bed to the bathroom. Then I was diagnosed with Primary Pulmonary Hypertension or high blood pressure from the lungs and in 2003 had to be put on a medication called Flolan. I make up this medicine for myself every day to be taken intravenously over a 24 hour period.
My doctors tell me my lungs are getting worse and that I will need a lung transplant to survive. However, before I can be put on the lung transplant waiting list, I am required to travel from Columbus, OH to the Cleveland Clinic every 8 weeks for extensive testing. Once I am transplanted, I will have to stay in Cleveland for about 6 weeks to 3 months before I am able to return home. Even with insurance the expense of travel, relocation, copays and the lifelong anti-rejection medications are astronomical. This is a challenge I cannot meet alone.
This brings me to the purpose of my letter. To help offset these uninsured costs, a fundraising campaign in my honor has been established with HelpHOPELive (formerly NTAF), a nonprofit organization that has been assisting the transplant community for nearly 30 years. All contributions are tax deductible, are held in the Great Lakes Lung Transplant Fund, and are administered by HelpHOPELive for transplant-related expenses only. You can help make a difference in my life. Please consider a contribution.Thank you for your kindness and generosity and for the opportunity to live a long, normal life.
Sincerely,
Mary Brown
678-488-1375
([email protected])