Pamela Johnson

My name is Pam. I am asking that you help save my life. I am battling a rare form of Cancer that affects the blood vessels in the Liver called Hemangioendotheiloma. There has been fewer than 200 cases reported ever. According to Duke Healthcare Specialists, only 13 cases reported in North Carolina. I am in need of a Liver Transplant to live.

I have managed to live a positive productive life as an advocate for the aged and disabled, and as a Middle School Substitute Teacher. I am the middle child of 3. I am the sole provider of my household.

I am asking family, friends, and people in our community to please consider a donation of any size to help me cover basic living expenses and a portion of my medical related expenses. Your donation will go towards transplant expenses that are surprisingly not covered by insurance like the cost of lodging near the transplant center for 30 days where I am required to stay following discharge, transportation costs, and monthly anti-rejection medications needed to take for the life of my new liver. I have been told these medications cost upward of $5000 a month.

Before “HeHe”, I had recently graduated from Utica College with a Healthcare Administration degree, and passed state boards to practice as a Healthcare Administrator in my state. My dream was to be an Administrator at an Assisted Living Facility to continue my work with the elderly, and to take care of my family.

But in 2015, I started having pain in my upper right abdomen, lost weight, had problems walking, and had chronic fatigue. Despite endless nights in the Emergency Room, X-rays, CT Scans, PET Scans, and MRI’s I still managed to donate time to the things I believed in like volunteering to teach Burmese people English, worked to protect the rights of elderly and disabled people, and ensured that Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities were kept up to standards according to the laws in my state. I started a “Robe Ministry” in which I donated robes and housecoats to elderly people who were in need. I always had a heart to serve which is why my career in healthcare continued on for 20 years. But now, I am in need. No one ever thinks they will be on the other side in need of help, but it happened to me. It changed my life.

Everything changed for me and my family in June 2016, only months after graduation when severe abdominal pain sent me to the Emergency Department where I was given a possible Cancer diagnosis.

The following months, I went through Biopsies, Endoscopies, and Colonoscopies. It has since become urgent that I receive a transplant because the MRI in June 2016 compared to the MRI in December 2016 showed that the tumors had increased in size. From June 2016, we’ve been in a constant battle to try to save my life with visits to three hospitals and now visits three times a week over 200 miles away After several biopsies, CT scans, PET Scans, and MRI’s in 2017 I was finally diagnosed with Hemangioendothelioma. “HeHe” went undetected for a long time before being diagnosed. Even now, it can spread from my liver to lungs and other soft tissues. Some days I cannot walk because movement causes severe pain especially on rainy days. The cause of “HeHe” is unknown. As the disease gets worse, it becomes like Alzheimer’s–not knowing who family members are or where I am.

What makes us hopeful is that with a transplant and advances in technology there is a chance that I can recover and live a full life. By getting involved you will be helping to save a life. Donations will help ease the financial burden of a transplant and allow me to focus on a healthy recovery and long life. Family and friends of Pamela Johnson is raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with transplantation.

Pamela has chosen to fundraise for Help Hope Live in part because Help Hope Live assures 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!