Jen O.'s 'Get Up & Go' Fund
Donation protected
Our wonderful, caring, loving, and giving Jen has been in the University of Minnesota Fairview Hospital for six days (ICU for three of those days). Since October 11, Jen has not been feeling well, and by Halloween she began noticing jaundice (yellow eyes and skin). She went to the doctor early November and was told she may have acquired a general hepatitis from a trip she made to Mexico in early October. She continued to feel extremely tired, jaundiced, and weak so was sent to a liver specialist. The tests there were inconclusive and they could find nothing specific so also believed it was a general hepatitis that would take up to 6 weeks to recover, but her health continued to decline so her mom took her to the hospital on Monday, December 1.
It’s been a rollercoaster all week, but at this point she has been given a diagnosis of HLH, an extremely rare life threatening blood disease, which is actually most common in children. HLH is an autoimmune blood disorder where the white blood cells attack the red blood cells and organs. We don’t, and may never know, what triggered HLH in her body, but we do know this is what caused her liver to fail. The liver failure is affecting other bodily functions. She’s currently on kidney dialysis and has a breathing tube so she is sedated.
HLH can be treated. We began treatment of chemotherapy and a steroid on Friday evening. If it is indeed HLH we should see improvement in 5 to7 days. However, Jen has had an undiagnosed autoimmune liver issue called Primary Biliary Cirrhosis so we have no idea how her liver will recover. She continues to be on the Liver Transplant List, but her current status is on Hold. Her medical team needs to treat the cause first, and will continue to evaluate her liver.
It has taken 5 days to find these results and they have never seen or even found a case like this in their research. They have seen HLH, but rarely, and never with liver failure to this extent with a previous underlying liver problem. So like our Jen, this is a rare and unique case. At this point she is in critical but stable condition. The critical care doctor has ordered meticulous constant care for her. Now we wait. We have hope and have given Jen and the situation to God.
Many of Jen’s friends, family, and co-workers have asked how they can help. First of all – please continue to pray. Your prayers are making a difference for Jen and carrying us as a family. If you still have a desire to help in other ways, we prefer that all help goes to directly to Jen so we have decided to setup this GoFundMe page for her. Finances will be a stressor for her. We have been told she will be unable to return to work for six months.
So how will your donation help Jen?
- current medical expenses
- new deductible to be met after the first of the year
- higher monthly insurance premium after the first of the year
- ongoing/future medical bills
- monthly rent and bills
It’s been a rollercoaster all week, but at this point she has been given a diagnosis of HLH, an extremely rare life threatening blood disease, which is actually most common in children. HLH is an autoimmune blood disorder where the white blood cells attack the red blood cells and organs. We don’t, and may never know, what triggered HLH in her body, but we do know this is what caused her liver to fail. The liver failure is affecting other bodily functions. She’s currently on kidney dialysis and has a breathing tube so she is sedated.
HLH can be treated. We began treatment of chemotherapy and a steroid on Friday evening. If it is indeed HLH we should see improvement in 5 to7 days. However, Jen has had an undiagnosed autoimmune liver issue called Primary Biliary Cirrhosis so we have no idea how her liver will recover. She continues to be on the Liver Transplant List, but her current status is on Hold. Her medical team needs to treat the cause first, and will continue to evaluate her liver.
It has taken 5 days to find these results and they have never seen or even found a case like this in their research. They have seen HLH, but rarely, and never with liver failure to this extent with a previous underlying liver problem. So like our Jen, this is a rare and unique case. At this point she is in critical but stable condition. The critical care doctor has ordered meticulous constant care for her. Now we wait. We have hope and have given Jen and the situation to God.
Many of Jen’s friends, family, and co-workers have asked how they can help. First of all – please continue to pray. Your prayers are making a difference for Jen and carrying us as a family. If you still have a desire to help in other ways, we prefer that all help goes to directly to Jen so we have decided to setup this GoFundMe page for her. Finances will be a stressor for her. We have been told she will be unable to return to work for six months.
So how will your donation help Jen?
- current medical expenses
- new deductible to be met after the first of the year
- higher monthly insurance premium after the first of the year
- ongoing/future medical bills
- monthly rent and bills
Organizer
Ashley Voorhees
Organizer
Minneapolis, MN
