Carol's Liver Denotation Expenses

My name is Geoff Kaltenbach and I have been a friend of Carol's for years now. She is one of the kindest, most giving and inspiring people I have ever met; from serving our country in the Army overseas in Korea, to how she lives her life, her dedication to her friends, family and community. She has nearly limitless empathy for everyone. But it is her next act of empathy and giving that is truly inspiring me and everyone around her. And this time it is not without its dangers and costs. While her health is in amazing hands at USC Keck Hospital (the Nation's #2 Organ Transplant Hospital in the country) and she is doing this, at great risk to her health and her livelihood. And only months after starting her first Group Pilates Studio. The risks she is taking are immense but this is so like Carol, to want to help someone, even someone she does not know. At the suggestion of her Case Manager at USC, I am starting this GoFundMe because it is time for all of us to return the empathy and compassion she shows everyone and help her and this truly tremendous and noble cause. So I asked her to write about why she is doing this and to tell us how we can help. The goal is to raise $6,000 to cover the costs of her new Pilates Studio while she is out recovering. Any excess will be donated to the National Living Donor Assistance Center (NLDAC). Below in her words, are why she is doing this, but also why Organ Donation is such an important cause.

Live Liver Donation Monday, December 18th

I first donated blood when I was 17 as a senior in High School. I loved the feeling of giving something of myself to help save others. I continued to donate every chance I had and by the time I was in my 20s I was donating every 8 weeks after learning in addition to being a universal donor (O-) I was CMV negative as well, and so my blood was saved for babies and preemies that need transfusions.

Fast forward to Fall of 2022 when I saw a post on a Facebook Moms group asking if anyone had the blood type O- and would be willing to be tested as a match for her daughter, who was on the waitlist for a life saving partial liver transplant and was getting desperate. She explained that her daughter was a young mother with three littles. I had never considered live organ donation, but as a mom, I could only imagine the desperation of hoping for a liver match and knowing my daughter would die soon without one. I immediately responded and started the process of being interviewed and tested to see if I was a match. This was a far more lengthy process than I had imagined and I began to learn all about live liver transplants and the need for them.

As I moved forward in the process of donating, I was tested, scanned, and probed. Questioned by surgeons, psychiatrists, social workers, dieticians, and nurses. And all along I continued doing what I love…teaching Pilates in my little studio and in June of 2023 opening my new small group studio. Amidst this testing I was notified that the young mother’s case was closed and I would find out later that she ended up receiving a liver from a deceased donor and was doing well. With that came the decision to just be happy with her outcome and move on with my life and focus on growing my studio or continue the process, donate altruistically and hope my new studio would survive my absence for a few weeks. With the newfound knowledge I had it wasn’t much of a decision. Without hesitation, I knew I needed to continue the process and donate to someone on the waiting list.

I was approved by the surgical team at USC Keck Hospital in August of 2023 to donate the right (larger) lobe of my liver to an adult or older teenager, and then came the wait for a match. During this wait I encountered through Pilates, or just in passing several people who either worked for a transplant hospital, worked with former transplant patients, or those waiting for transplants, or had friends or family members waiting or that had received a liver transplant. All of these people shared their experiences with me and their appreciation of the donor that saved their loved one. Listening to their stories and experiences I began to feel that the universe was bringing these people into my life to reinforce my decision to donate.

That all being said, I do realize that taking several weeks excluding pre-op and follow-up visits away from my less than six month old Pilates studio to donate an organ to someone I have never met sounds a little crazy. However, is there ever a good time to step away from our responsibilities? Next year, the studio may be too busy. The following year I may be taking time away to visit my daughter’s in college. No time is a good time to step away, but there is also no good time for someone to not receive a life saving liver donation, so I am putting my fate and the fate of my studio out there to the universe and choosing to believe that it will all work out. Then my Case Manager at USC Keck encouraged me to fundraise to help cover the cost to run my business while I am recovering.

So I am asking for help to keep my little studio running while I am away. I have wonderful instructors that are making the time to teach the extra 25-30 classes each week that I would usually teach. As a new studio owner, I am not worried monthly about paying myself for the classes I teach. That will come later as I grow. However, I will need to be able to pay the fabulous instructors that will keep my studio up and running while I am away. I am hoping to be back in the studio by the beginning of week 5 post surgery. This accounts to a studio need of $6000.

I am hoping to raise this through donations or in new Pilates Packages sold. Anything raised through this event that is in excess of necessary expenses will be donated to the National Living Donor Assistance Center (NLDAC). The NLDAC provides grants to living organ donors to cover travel expenses, hotel stays, dependent care expenses, and lost wages so that they are able to donate with a minimum financial burden to themselves and their families.