Michael Harlow

Michael Harlow along with friends and family are raising money thru Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with a Lung transplantation that is needed as a result of Michael’s long term battle with Pulmonary Hypertension.

For those of you who may or may not know Michael has been suffering from a very rare and terminal disease known as Pulmonary Hypertension for the past 15 years. This began in 2006 when Michael noticed his breathing was more labored after a day on the golf course. Over the span of the next few months Michael went from being able to walk 18 holes of golf, to not being able to walk up a flight of stairs without becoming very short of breath. After a year of tests, doctor’s visits and more, Michael was finally referred to the pulmonary specialists at the University of Colorado medical center. There after being seen by a wonderful physician by the name of Dr. Bull and some further testing, it was determined that Michael was suffering from this rare disease called Pulmonary Hypertension.

In brief, this disease causes the blood vessels in the lungs to become rigid and lose their elasticity. This in turn causes the right side of the heart to become severely stressed as it has to work extremely hard in order to pump blood into and through the lungs. All of these factors combine to cause severe shortness of breath, fatigue and other underlying health issues. Pulmonary Hypertension has no cure, although there are drugs available that will extend the life of a person with this disease. After many, many years of Michael being on a large variety of these drugs, he has exhausted all of the options that are currently available to him. So now Michael’s only option for continued survival is a double-lung transplant.

After consultations with both the University of Colorado and Stanford Hospital, going through a long battery of tests and many other factors, Michael has been placed on the National Organ donation list and is currently waiting for a suitable donor to be found. Many of you are aware that this news is a LONG time in coming and we are so grateful to the all of the doctors, nurses, social workers and so many other people who continue to help him navigate this endeavor.

Now Michael is planning for the next challenge; transplants are life-saving but financially draining. Even with insurance, Michael is facing very high expenses including relocating for three to six months to be closer to the medical center for pre and post-transplant care, post-transplant medications co-pays, lab fees and much more. It is estimated that these costs could be at least $10,000.00 or more for the first year alone and this does not include the costs for any additional hospital stays due to complications from the transplant.

Michael has chosen to fundraise with Help Hope Live in part because they assure fiscal accountability of funds raised and tax deductibility for contributors. Contributors can be sure donations will be used to pay or reimburse medical and related expenses. To make a tax-deductible donation to this fundraising campaign, click on the Give button.
For more information, please contact Help Hope Live at 800.642.8399.

Thank you for your support!