Aid in Marinas double lung transplant

Hello, our friend Marina Jones (22) is 4 months post-op from receiving her double lung transplant.

We have set a goal to help cover surgery, medication, physical therapy, and to help Marina start her new life. Due to her surgery, she can’t attend school, go to work, or be in public spaces for a full year while she recovers.

If you would like to donate to help lift some financial weight from Marina and her family, anything would be greatly appreciated. If you are unable, please pray for a hedge of protection over Marina as she continues on her long road to recovery.

Here’s a little backstory on how we got here: Marina has had a rare progressive disorder known as pulmonary arterial hypertension her whole life. PAH is a lung disease and a form of pulmonary hypertension that damages the arteries and causes high blood pressure in the lungs. The right ventricle of the heart needs to work harder to pump blood into the pulmonary arteries. This extra effort eventually leads to heart failure. Marina wasn’t diagnosed until she was 16, but has suffered symptoms for as long as she can remember. This includes shortness of breath while exercising and even while at rest, chest pain, heart palpitations, dizziness and fainting spells, fatigue, etc.

Due to her condition, there have been a lot of things she’s had to miss out on and hasn’t been able to do. While she was on the transplant list, she was incapable of doing everyday things such as walk from her car to school or climb a flight of stairs. These are essential things we so easily take for granted. As you can imagine, this was extremely frustrating for Marina, but despite her diagnosis, she always had a positive attitude, stayed passionate about her hobbies, and pushed herself to live a normal life. After years of evaluations, medications, at-home care, and hospital stays, her heart and lungs had become so weak from the stress and damage. The only option was to do a double lung transplant, as she was given 2–3 months to live if not. Due to the severity and progression of her disease, she was put on top of the transplant list. Although it’s a risky surgery, and life after transplant has its own set of drawbacks, she wouldn’t have PAH anymore. This would open a new door for Marina as she would no longer be held back physically.

On June 1st, she received the call to go into surgery. Thankfully it was a success, and there weren’t any serious hiccups as she was in the hospital for 20 days for evaluation and recovery. She recently graduated from her 3 months of physical therapy and is now able to exercise for the first time ever! She’s pleased with her progress and is so excited to see where life takes her summer of 2024!

With each breath comes a new beginning; thank you all for the love and support!