Paula Cummings

PAULA NEEDS OUR SUPPORT!

Paula’s life was thrown into upheaval when at age 53 she was diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, COPD. Paula has been oxygen dependent since 2002 and after many hospitalizations and four operations, she has exhausted all treatment options and has been placed on the waiting list for a double lung transplant through the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).

Paula is from Stewartstown and attended Stewartstown Elementary School and graduated from Kennard Dale High School in 1967. She has four wonderful children; Deona, Shane, Shad & Adam Paul and eight wonderful grandchildren that support her daily. Much support also comes from her church family at Bethlehem Stonepile United Methodist Church. Paula spent many years helping others in Nueces County in-patient facility in Corpus Christi Texas and then in York-Adams County PA Drug and Alcohol Programs.

Average first-year billed charges for a transplant can be more than $650,000. While surgery may be covered by health insurance, pre-transplant medical services and post-transplant maintenance are often uncovered, leaving the patient and families with huge out-of-pocket expenses. Even with Medicare coverage, there are co-pays and deductibles and medications that can cost $60,000 a year or more.

To help with the financial burden of Paula’s uninsured expenses, a fundraising campaign in her honor has been established with HelpHOPELive, a trusted nonprofit organization that has been providing community-based fundraising guidance to patients and their families for more than 30 years. All donations are tax deductible, are held by HelpHOPELive in the Mid-Atlantic Lung Transplant Fund, and are administered by HelpHOPELive for transplant-related expenses only. Please consider a contribution.

If we all work together, we can make Paula’s prospects for the future much brighter. One of Paula’s greatest joys is looking forward to spending more time with her classmates from Stewartstown Elementary School and Kennard Dale High School; as well as all her family and friends all over the US.

With sincere gratitude,

Kathy Orr Dellinger, Kennard Dale Class of 1967
717-741-3932, [email protected]