Carla Heeke Dean's Medical Bills

Hi my name is Nola Kern, Iam asking for help for one of the most genuine caring person I had privilege to call my friend, Carla Dean.

I am hoping to help a friend (Carla Dean) that I have known for many years. She has dealt with an extremely rare immune deficiency since birth called Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). There are many compilations with CGD. Over her life time She has had 15 liver surgeries to remove multiple abscesses, 5 bone surgeries to remove bone infection in her leg, as well as many kidney, bladder, skin, and lymph node infections. If you see Carla out and about she hides it well. Never judge a book by its cover. She always has a positive attitude and has probably never mentioned her struggles with this disease to you. She is strong and doesn’t look for sympathy. Even with having CGD she feels blessed. Her mother always told her to count her blessings because there is always someone out there worse off than you are. Be thankful for what you have. Carla has an amazing opportunity to be cured of CGD once and for all! She has been accepted into a study for a bone marrow stem cell transplant at the National Instutes of Health (NIH). It is a little different than a cancer bone marrow transplant. She and a caregiver will need to travel to NIH in Bethesda MD and live there, no further than a 30 minute drive to NIH, for 3 to 4 months. Her husband Joe will be her caregiver and need to take family leave. Carla’s first 30 days will be inpatient in isolation. She will receive chemotherapy and radiation prior to receiving the donor cells. She is very fortunate to have a 9 out of 10 donor match from the national registry. While this is an exciting opportunity to receive this therapy there are also many complications that could occur. We are praying for the best and ask for yours as well. Carla knows it will be a hard road to walk, but she and her family are ready, looking forward to the future. The entire transplant will take about a year for her to be back to “her new normal”. Carla and Joe will return to home when her blood cell counts are within a good range. The assistance that we are asking for is room and board. She has looked into Air B&B and extended stay locations. They are both running about the same. It is a very expensive area. The cost is around $18,000. They will also have no income because Joe is the main wage earner. NIH does not have anything like a Ronald home for patients to stay in. Patients have to seek housing on their own. This is a small clinical trial and only 40 patients will be accepted. Carla is blessed to have even selected. This is a very serious immune deficiency, she has lost two brothers with it. She is careful, but if an infection attacks her body she could still become very ill and pass anytime. We all know life is not guaranteed, but Carla and her family always live with the extra worry in the back of her mind. Transplant is scheduled to start January 21. Any donation will help. Prayers are most important. I have skimmed the top of her medical issues if you would like more information you can message me.