- A
- J
This is Susie. She has been my best friend for over 23 years, is a wonderful mother to her awesome son & is always quick to help others. As kids we did everything together and were really, pretty inseperable; laughing ALL the time. Our friendship as we got older ebb and flowed, but we always came back together as though no time had left us apart. Last year our lives changed forever.
She and her son moved into the home my husband & I were living in. We were our own little village and it was good! After about a year we had both decided we needed to save money and both moved into our parents' homes. A few months after the move she had called me telling me she felt like she was coming down with a cold. Then a few days later she said her skin had a yellow tint to it and that the whites of her eyes were starting to look yellow.
Next thing we knew she was admitted to our local hospital, then transferred to USC Keck Hospital, where they could better treat her. All the doctors were and still are baffled by her condition. Still unsure what would be causing such an affliction to a young, perfectly healthy woman. Her condition quickly worsened and she was moved to ICU and put on the list for a transplant. The whites of her eyes were YELLOW, her skin almost orange, and she would shut down (fall asleep) mid conversation and wake up as though nothing had happened. She was incredibly sick unable to keep food or water down and her time was running out for a transplant.
Within a couple days (Thanksgiving 2015) the phone call came in that there was a possible match. Confirmation came within the next day or 2 that the possibility was actuality and she was being prepped for surgery. She ended up enduring 3 surgeries, had to relearn how to move her body and breathe on her own.
It has now been a year and she still has outrageous medical bills that desperately need to get paid off. One of her anti-rejection medications alone costs her $300/month. I want so badly for her to find relief some where in her life and I think the financial strain is the one thing I can actually try to help her with so she can hopefully get ahead and move forward in her new life. She never likes to ask for help, this stubbornness is also what I believe has kept her alive. ;)
She and her son moved into the home my husband & I were living in. We were our own little village and it was good! After about a year we had both decided we needed to save money and both moved into our parents' homes. A few months after the move she had called me telling me she felt like she was coming down with a cold. Then a few days later she said her skin had a yellow tint to it and that the whites of her eyes were starting to look yellow.
Next thing we knew she was admitted to our local hospital, then transferred to USC Keck Hospital, where they could better treat her. All the doctors were and still are baffled by her condition. Still unsure what would be causing such an affliction to a young, perfectly healthy woman. Her condition quickly worsened and she was moved to ICU and put on the list for a transplant. The whites of her eyes were YELLOW, her skin almost orange, and she would shut down (fall asleep) mid conversation and wake up as though nothing had happened. She was incredibly sick unable to keep food or water down and her time was running out for a transplant.
Within a couple days (Thanksgiving 2015) the phone call came in that there was a possible match. Confirmation came within the next day or 2 that the possibility was actuality and she was being prepped for surgery. She ended up enduring 3 surgeries, had to relearn how to move her body and breathe on her own.
It has now been a year and she still has outrageous medical bills that desperately need to get paid off. One of her anti-rejection medications alone costs her $300/month. I want so badly for her to find relief some where in her life and I think the financial strain is the one thing I can actually try to help her with so she can hopefully get ahead and move forward in her new life. She never likes to ask for help, this stubbornness is also what I believe has kept her alive. ;)
Organizer and beneficiary
Susan DiGrigoli
Beneficiary