Mary Ellen O'Connor Needs Us Now!
Mary Ellen O’Connor is a much loved big sister to myself, Carol, Kevin and Craig and daughter of Jean & Charlie. She is also Auntie Mare to two generations of nieces and nephews. Mare is a “give you the shirt of her back” gal and is loved by all she meets. Three years ago Mary selflessly left her life in Rhode Island and moved to Florida to care for our folks.
Routine bloodwork in January led to a call from the Dr. to get to the E.R. ASAP. What started as just not feeling well quickly progressed to complete liver and subsequently kidney failure. We are all still in shock. Twenty years ago we lost our oldest brother Thom, a Naval Master Chief, to a small plane crash. We are not going to watch our folks bury another child!
HOPE LIVES!
On 03/02/2018, Mare was transferred to the Miami Transplant Institute at Jackson Memorial in Miami, Florida. Sadly and gladly, the sicker the quicker and on 03/29/2018 Mary Ellen got what one of the surgeons, Dr. Beduschi referred to as "a beautiful, young Ferrari of a liver".
It is not lost on us that somewhere, a generous soul said goodbye so our Mare could stick around. Our GRATITUDE cannot be understated and our deepest sympathy goes out to those they are leaving behind.
FROM THIS:
TO THIS:
But the long road is just beginning!
PLEASE, HERE'S HOW YOU CAN HELP
Your $ donations to Mary Ellen are needed now. This is going to be a HUGE endeavor. However large or small your contribution, we need your help more now than ever! No amount is too small. If you can't or have already donated, you can still make a big difference. SHARE THIS TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND ASK THEM TO SHARE TO THEIRS! Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, email, anywhere you can. Your shares will make such a difference to Mary’s recovery and spirits!! Mary will need to focus 100% on overcoming this nightmare. Our goal is to minimize her stress in any way we can.
REQUIREMENTS Mary Ellen needs to live near the Transplant Institute for a minimum of two months after the surgery. They also require family support to live there with Mary to care for her, to provide transportation to and from P/T, follow up appointments and possibly dialysis until her kidneys recover.
WHERE YOUR DONATION WILL GO
We are asking for your help to offset the expenses the staff has told us to plan for. Beyond the $50K plus in medical bills we anticipate, Right away, we are grateful to have found a suitable short term apartment but it is costing Mary Ellen $2,800 a month. Medicine and other co-pays as well as supplies need to be covered now. There's also Mare's day to day expenses and transportation costs. She will be going to the Transplant Center at least twice a week initially as well as physical and occupational therapy. Mary's expenses for her phone, insurance, medical and personal bills are mounting as well.
They tell me our presence is important for Mare. I guess that’s a win / win because I couldn’t bear the thought of her going through this alone.
FOR UPDATES ON MARE’S PROGRESS
We have been inundated with more calls, texts and messages than we can possibly field. I will be posting general updates on this GoFundMe page.
Mary Ellen can and will get through this but she can't do it alone!
On behalf of Mary, our entire family, and all who know and love Mare, we extend our most heartfelt thanks!
Most sincerely,
Diane O’Connor Kimball
Please remember to share on Facebook, twitter, Instagram or even just texts and emails. It's working! Ask your friends to share it too!
Myself and my family would like to extend a special thank you to my husband Lee Kimball . His commitment and support to Mary Ellen, myself and my family has been unwavering. He also took on the task of researching the best means to allow you all to help, and subsequently creating this Go Fund Me page and assisting me with managing and disbursing Mary's funds.
