Help April with Her New Lungs

On the News (see her interview)

Pre transplant

https://www.kcra.com/article/sacramento-woman-rare-disease-anxiously-waits-organ-transplant/39745366# 

Post transplant

https://www.kcra.com/article/sacramento-woman-receives-lung-donation-after-45-days-hospital/40092265


Update From April 5/23/22:
After 45 days in the hospital at UCSF I am finally free with brand new lungs!  I am so happy to report that I received my life-saving lung transplant on May 5, 2022 and for the first time in several years I can breathe on my own without dragging around an oxygen tank.  And it feels WONDERFUL! I would like to give a heart-felt thank you to everyone who donated towards my medical care.  While I may be out of the hospital my road to recovery is still a long one.  For the next six weeks my husband and I will be living in San Bruno so I can be close to UCSF for bi-weekly lab testing and doctor visits. I also have to take some 25 different medications twice daily to help prevent my body from rejecting my beautiful new lungs. And we could really use your help more than ever.  Living in the Bay Area is quite expensive.  And while I have medical insurance the cost of my post-care medications can be quite expensive. David and I would certainly appreciate anything you could find in your heart to give. Even though you may have already donated we are nowhere near our goal - if you can find a little extra to donate as well as pass this onto others through social media, text messages or emails. Copy and paste this link (  2kpq7-help-april-get-new-lungs  ) I’ve also posted some new pictures of my transplant journey and a story KCRA TV in Sacramento did with me on the importance of organ donation. I’m so blessed to have received my new lungs and I pray the gift will continue for thousands of other people in California alone who are currently on the waiting list for some type of organ donation.

Within 6 hours of Surgery


Within 12 hour 


Within 24 hours


Showing Gratitude


Within 3 days


Leaving Hospital for first time in 6 weeks


From David 5/5/21:
I’ve been married to my lovely wife April ("Apes" as some of her friends affectionately refer to her as) going on two years in December, together for 12.  Although she has always had this disease, over the past year,  I’ve noticed a significant decline in her health. She now requires oxygen 24/7, often gasps for air and gets short of breath when it comes to the things you and I take for granted  -like just walking from the house to the car.  (imagine living your whole life, even while sleeping, breathing through a snorkel - for a child!) April was born with a rare lung disease known as Kartagener’s syndrome: 

https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/6815/kartagener-syndrome


which is also called Dextrocardia bronchiectasis:

https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1164/art.1943.47.4.435?journalCode=art

Those strange sounding medical terms simply mean all her internal organs, including her heart, liver, spleen and intestines are on the opposite side of her body-like a mirror image of yours and mine.   According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders, one in as many as 30,000 people are born with this disease.

April spent the first few weeks of her life in the hospital in respiratory distress. She grew up with frequent lung, sinus and middle ear infections. She was told that she wouldn't live past the age of 13.  And now, at 47 years old, my wife needs a double lung transplant to continue living as her birth lungs are dying inside her!

And this is where I am asking you to find it in your heart to  help her live.  Our goal is lofty, but so are our expenses.  This is something that will  have a profound effect on us financially. I’m hoping to raise $59,000 to help cover only a small part of the surgery and medical care leading both up to the surgery and after.  While April has health insurance there are still many ancillary costs that are not covered such as multiple travel trips per week to and from Fresno to the hospital in San Francisco, food,  lodging,  nursing care, pet sitting, loss of income and other ancillary medical services not covered.  The surgery itself cost over $1,000,000.  And after she has the surgery she and I will need to lodge  close to the hospital at UCSF for a minimum of three months as she recovers and learns how to take care of her new lungs with the hope her body doesn't reject them.  

Anyone who knows my wife knows she is smart, hard-working, educated, funny, loves to make others smile and laugh.  She is a great friend and someone who is always giving of herself.   She is he love of my life and we need your help to keep her care at the highest level so she can heal with minimum stress. I, and her fur babies, could not live without her.



I hope you will consider making a donation.  I also hope you will pass this onto others that you know might know her just in case  I may have missed anyone. Feel free to pass this onto anyone who you know would like to assist in these scenarios even if they do not know her - we are looking to the good in humanity in these tough times.  


Thank you