Nancy Kyllingstad

To all my friends and family:

My lungs from my Angel Gabriel have been sustaining me since my transplant in 2015, but I have a new health crisis that again requires caregiver services.

I was diagnosed with cancer in the bladder and left ureter. On February 28, 2022, I had a radical cystectomy and am at home recovering and learning to function with an ostomy bag. I have an excellent caregiver who helps me eight hours per day and will probably continue for about four weeks. Her rate is reasonable, but I have been unable to do my part-time work during the diagnosis and surgery.

If you wish to contribute a small sum to help me with these costs, please consider making a tax-deductible donation on this wonderful site.

Much love to you all,

Nancy

My transplant journey
Dear Family and Friends,

After having waited nearly three years, Nancy received the double lung transplant she desperately needed. The doctors at UCSF were able to do what they had hoped to achieve for Nancy—a successful lung transplant and the ability to breathe without oxygen for the first time in over ten years. This gift has provided Nancy with the opportunity to add a new chapter to her life.

While many of you have been instrumental in helping Nancy, and we thank you, the journey ahead will be challenging, both medically and financially. Therefore, we are asking for a donation to offset expenses while we maneuver through the medical maze of aftercare that Nancy will require. Our goal is to support Nancy back to independence and good health while providing the necessary rehabilitative care not covered by insurance.

Additional notes from Nancy:

You may know me as a teacher, a mother, a friend, and a person with great energy and determination throughout my life. Those defining roles also highlight the joys of my life: my teaching, my children, my friendships, and my interest in the world through travel. I was living a good life, with a meaningful career, two children and a granddaughter (pictured with me here), and a myriad of interesting friends, when I was stricken with scleroderma-related pulmonary fibrosis. Rather quickly, the disease forced me to retire from public school teaching. More control over my time and the use of supplemental oxygen brought me to a manageable medical situation which made it possible for me to continue doing what I love, teaching ESL part-time at Santa Rosa Junior College.

The opportunity for new lungs provides me with hope, but comes at great expense, far beyond my assets. In order to cover my out-of-pocket medical costs and the UCSF residency requirement to stay in San Francisco post-transplant for six weeks or more, I am asking you to consider donating what you can spare to help me with these expenses.

To help with this financial burden, a fundraising campaign in my honor has been established with HelpHOPELive, a nonprofit organization that has been assisting the transplant community for 30 years. All donations are tax-deductible, are held by HelpHOPELive in the Southwest Lung Transplant Fund, and are administered by HelpHOPELive for transplant-related expenses only. Your contribution is greatly appreciated.

Nothing in my life has prepared me to reach out to friends and possibly strangers asking for help, even under such extreme and necessary circumstances. And yet, here I am. Thank you for reading my story and thank you for your contribution.

Sincerely,
Nancy Kyllingstad