Support the Neece Family
Donation protected
Heather has been ill for years now. For the last several, she has been battling Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, a genetic disease that can affect the lungs and liver. In addition, her prognosis has been complicated by COPD. Alpha-1 and COPD continue to impact her ability to breathe on her own and have reduced her lung capacity to only 8%!
As the disease has progressed, it has robbed Heather of the ability to even take a simple deep breath. Think about how often you stop and take a deep breath during the day. What so many of us take for granted, Heather no longer has the ability to do so easily. For many of us we start our day by climbing out of bed, maybe stretch a bit and then take a nice deep breath to kick off the morning. Heather starts her morning by taking 3 breathing treatments before her feet even hit the floor. From there, she makes her way into the kitchen where she continues her morning routine with another 20 medications or so. These medications are needed every day to ensure that she stays healthy enough until she can take the next step in her treatment plan.
On August 23rd, Heather had a follow up appointment with her pulmonologist. Both the pulmonologist and Heather’s regular doctor agree that the transplant team at Stanford should reevaluate her for eligibility for a double lung transplant! The next step now is to wait for the transplant team to schedule the evaluation and go through rigorous testing to ensure she and her body are healthy enough to pursue a transplant.
To see the Neece family; Chris, Heather, Dalton and Cade, you would never know that anything is wrong with Heather’s health. She wakes every day with a smile and continues to make others around her feel loved. Chris, God bless him, gets up and goes to work every day to do what he does to earn a paycheck and support the family while they treat Heather’s current symptoms and continue to progress through the transplant eligibility process. The boys, Dalton and Cade; I’ve never seen two teenage boys carry so many oxygen tanks from the house to the car and back again every day of their lives. Since getting their licenses, both boys also chauffer Heather around as needed since she is no longer able to drive. And all four of them do this without a complaint. They each carry the weight of Heather’s illness but you would never know it. This family of four truly knows what love without conditions or expectations is and they practice it every day.
It has occurred to me as Heather has progressed in her treatment plan and working towards her eligibility for a double lung transplant, there is a significant expense ahead of the family to make this happen. Through my research that I’ve done, I have learned that double lung transplants will typically cost in the neighborhood of $1.2 million dollars. Of that, Heather and Chris could be responsible for as much as $50k in expenses. And the expense doesn’t stop there. Heather will require expensive anti-rejection medications for the rest of her life post-surgery. Due to Heather’s illness, she is not able to work which means the family has been holding things together with one paycheck. With the years of medical bills and many hospital stays each year, it has taken its toll on the family’s financials. With your support, I’m hoping we can help pay off some previous bills, alleviate some current financial pressure, and build a savings to be used for the double lung transplant when it happens.
It is critical that we begin to save for the transplant costs in preparation for being placed on the transplant list…. If she were on the list and the hospital called with a set of lungs, I’m afraid Heather would miss her opportunity for lack of funds. At this point, we need help! I know that many have helped the family out throughout the years at one point or another, but now I’m asking for people to come together as a community to help the family through this time. Without the transplant, Heather has little chance to survive her illness. Alpha-1 won’t take her from us, but the complications caused by it can and will without the transplant. It’s not a matter of if, but rather, a matter of when.
If you can help the family with a donation, please do. For those of you who don’t know my cousin, you would find it hard to find anyone who has anything negative to say about her. She has a bubbly, upbeat and loving personality. She cares about others and would help anyone in need. She is truly one of a kind. Understandably, hospitals and doctors are “for profit” and require medical payments for treatment. That said, no family should be in a place where a loved one is at jeopardy of losing their life due to lack of funds to support their life saving procedure. Please join me in supporting the Neece family!
Thank you,
Tammie G.- Heather’s cousin
#newlungs4Heather
#teamneece
#supporttheneecefamily2016
To learn more about Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, visit https://www.alpha1.org/what-is-alpha1
As the disease has progressed, it has robbed Heather of the ability to even take a simple deep breath. Think about how often you stop and take a deep breath during the day. What so many of us take for granted, Heather no longer has the ability to do so easily. For many of us we start our day by climbing out of bed, maybe stretch a bit and then take a nice deep breath to kick off the morning. Heather starts her morning by taking 3 breathing treatments before her feet even hit the floor. From there, she makes her way into the kitchen where she continues her morning routine with another 20 medications or so. These medications are needed every day to ensure that she stays healthy enough until she can take the next step in her treatment plan.
On August 23rd, Heather had a follow up appointment with her pulmonologist. Both the pulmonologist and Heather’s regular doctor agree that the transplant team at Stanford should reevaluate her for eligibility for a double lung transplant! The next step now is to wait for the transplant team to schedule the evaluation and go through rigorous testing to ensure she and her body are healthy enough to pursue a transplant.
To see the Neece family; Chris, Heather, Dalton and Cade, you would never know that anything is wrong with Heather’s health. She wakes every day with a smile and continues to make others around her feel loved. Chris, God bless him, gets up and goes to work every day to do what he does to earn a paycheck and support the family while they treat Heather’s current symptoms and continue to progress through the transplant eligibility process. The boys, Dalton and Cade; I’ve never seen two teenage boys carry so many oxygen tanks from the house to the car and back again every day of their lives. Since getting their licenses, both boys also chauffer Heather around as needed since she is no longer able to drive. And all four of them do this without a complaint. They each carry the weight of Heather’s illness but you would never know it. This family of four truly knows what love without conditions or expectations is and they practice it every day.
It has occurred to me as Heather has progressed in her treatment plan and working towards her eligibility for a double lung transplant, there is a significant expense ahead of the family to make this happen. Through my research that I’ve done, I have learned that double lung transplants will typically cost in the neighborhood of $1.2 million dollars. Of that, Heather and Chris could be responsible for as much as $50k in expenses. And the expense doesn’t stop there. Heather will require expensive anti-rejection medications for the rest of her life post-surgery. Due to Heather’s illness, she is not able to work which means the family has been holding things together with one paycheck. With the years of medical bills and many hospital stays each year, it has taken its toll on the family’s financials. With your support, I’m hoping we can help pay off some previous bills, alleviate some current financial pressure, and build a savings to be used for the double lung transplant when it happens.
It is critical that we begin to save for the transplant costs in preparation for being placed on the transplant list…. If she were on the list and the hospital called with a set of lungs, I’m afraid Heather would miss her opportunity for lack of funds. At this point, we need help! I know that many have helped the family out throughout the years at one point or another, but now I’m asking for people to come together as a community to help the family through this time. Without the transplant, Heather has little chance to survive her illness. Alpha-1 won’t take her from us, but the complications caused by it can and will without the transplant. It’s not a matter of if, but rather, a matter of when.
If you can help the family with a donation, please do. For those of you who don’t know my cousin, you would find it hard to find anyone who has anything negative to say about her. She has a bubbly, upbeat and loving personality. She cares about others and would help anyone in need. She is truly one of a kind. Understandably, hospitals and doctors are “for profit” and require medical payments for treatment. That said, no family should be in a place where a loved one is at jeopardy of losing their life due to lack of funds to support their life saving procedure. Please join me in supporting the Neece family!
Thank you,
Tammie G.- Heather’s cousin
#newlungs4Heather
#teamneece
#supporttheneecefamily2016
To learn more about Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, visit https://www.alpha1.org/what-is-alpha1
Organizer and beneficiary
Tammie Box Guerrero
Organizer
Hollister, CA
Heather Neece
Beneficiary