Jennifer Hennen

Our family is reaching out for support for my sister Jen (“Jenny”), who is currently being treated through Duke University Hospital after being hospitalized in late April with acute liver failure.

The last several weeks have been unexpected, challenging, and a bit of a blur. Jen became critically ill very quickly and ended up hospitalized in the ICU on April 26th. After a prolonged hospitalization, transfer to Duke, and extensive testing and stabilization, she was officially approved and placed on the liver transplant list as of May 15th. We are incredibly grateful she’s in the right place and finally has a clear path forward, even though there’s still a long road ahead.

At this point, Duke’s transplant team anticipates that Jen will likely receive a liver “offer” relatively soon. Because she has now been hospitalized for several weeks and has remained medically stable enough for close outpatient management, the transplant team feels it is safest and most appropriate for her to continue waiting for transplant outside of the hospital while remaining in very close contact with the team.

Our dad Jim and I brought Jen back to Williamsburg, VA on May 19th where we will continue helping care for and monitor her closely while waiting for a liver offer from Duke. At any point, we will need to quickly return to Durham when a liver becomes available or if her condition changes.

After transplant, she will be required to remain within an hour of Duke University Hospital for at least 30 days post-op for close monitoring, frequent labs, and immediate follow-up care. Because of that, our dad will need to secure temporary housing near Duke for a minimum of 30 days after surgery, and potentially longer depending on how her recovery goes.

I’ll need to be there quite a bit as well, traveling back and forth along with my wife Shqipe to help coordinate care and support Jen however needed. My sister Emma is nearby in Raleigh, and since Emma and I both work full time, we’re doing our best to rotate being present and available while also balancing work and day-to-day responsibilities. We’re also leaning on support from our mom Sarah in Davidson, NC, as we try to keep everything moving and make sure Jen is not alone in this.

After that initial recovery period, our plan is for Jen to continue living in Williamsburg, VA with family support nearby. She will require lifelong follow-up care through Duke, including ongoing travel back and forth for appointments, labs, monitoring, and transplant care.

We’re still figuring out all the details, but what we do know is that the costs add up quickly—housing, travel, food, time away from work, and everything that comes with a long medical process like this.

Funds raised will help with:

• Temporary housing near Duke University Hospital

• Travel and transportation between Virginia and North Carolina

• Meals and day-to-day living while caring for Jen

• Lost income and caregiving costs

• Ongoing medical follow-ups after transplant

• Medications that Jen will need to be on for the rest of her life

• Potential in-home medical services and equipment needed

Our initial fundraising goal is $40,000 to help cover temporary housing near Duke, travel between Virginia and North Carolina, and the immediate costs associated with transplant recovery and caregiving.

Jen is only 37. Even in the middle of all of this, we are really hopeful that a transplant can give her a second chance at a full life again—one where she can heal and be here for her two daughters, Chloe (17) and Avery (11), who love their mom deeply and are hoping for more time with her.

If you’re able to donate, share this, or just keep Jen and our family in your thoughts, it truly means more than we can say.

We’re taking this one step at a time, but we’re incredibly grateful she’s here and fighting.

Thank you so much for the love and support.

-Becca

Family and friends of Jennifer Hennen are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with a transplant. Jennifer has chosen to fundraise with Help Hope Live in part because donations are tax deductible for contributors and will only be used to cover medical and related expenses.