Cancer and Transplant Survivor Needs A Service Dog

Karla Burke is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Christy Heath.

Donation protected

My name is Karla. I have the strongest, and most amazing person as my dearest friend. She has endured a journey beyond what I could ever have imagined, and we're requesting help from you at this point in her journey. Christy received a 5-organ transplant. You read that right, 5 organs: Stomach, pancreas, small intestine, large intestine, and liver. She is in recovery and in need of a highly specialized and trained service dog. These dogs can cost upwards of $50,000, but she anticipates hers could be around $30,000. Read on to learn about her journey and what this dog will need to be able to do.

Christy has battled medical issues for the last 20+ years. She has fought valiantly against many medical foes. During this fight, she has asked for prayers, but never for charity...however, now, she needs your help.

She was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, stage 4 at the age of 28. She battled and won, left with only side effects until she was diagnosed again 15 years later. This time, she battled both breast cancer and unknowingly, a DEADLY clotting disorder. This disorder was silently destroying her body behind the scenes.

The disorder reared its ugly head when she opted for a voluntary double mastectomy & reconstruction to prevent yet another recurrence of breast cancer. Not realizing what was truly happening at the time, doctors took her into the OR multiple times that week following the first surgery, battling blood clots in her breast. All in all that week, she visited the OR 7 times in 6 days, where they finally found a solution to save her breast.

She silently continued to battle her health struggles and found avenues that encouraged and uplifted her spirits. She was chosen by the Dallas Cowboys to be a part of their Star Survivor team.

After this event, the disorder continued to ravage her body, creating blood clots throughout her body and destroying organs in the process. A few years later (2020), she was told she would need a Multi-Organ Transplant. In order to be put on the waiting list for these 5 organs, she had to give up her life in the only place she'd known as home and move across the county to be within minutes of the hospital and transplant team that would give her a fighting chance. Read about the university hospital and her experience with them here.

Texas to Indiana!

During her wait, this clotting disorder created multiple clots in both sides of her lungs. Doctors treated it and said she was lucky one of the many clots had not been fatal. Now on blood thinners, she continued to wait. However, during this waiting, multiple blood clots continued to develop in both lungs despite being on blood thinners! This is rarely seen. Again, she was lucky one of the clots had not been fatal. These clots don't "break off from somewhere else" ... they literally just start forming wherever they choose, making them even more dangerous.

After waiting almost 2 years and being told she might die on the waiting list if a donor was not found by the end of the year, a donor was found in October 2022, and she had a 5-organ transplant, the most major surgery the human body can face. Amazingly, she pulled through the dangerous surgery and has been recovering since.

Still in recovery (as of Spring 2023), doctors told her the transplant fixed the problem of the clots in the organs, but would not fix the possibility of the disorder causing new clots going forward. She will ALWAYS be in danger of these clots, it can't be cured. Clots could form in her lungs, heart, brain, and organs again - any one of them could be fatal. By the time she feels symptoms, it's already too late!

As a result of this disorder, Christy is in need of a Service Dog that can be trained to detect blood clots, bleeding (due to her blood thinners), and Cancer (given her history & fact that she is in even more danger of developing cancer due to transplant) before she even has symptoms. In many instances, by the time Christy may feel or see symptoms, it's already too late, and that could be deadly. Having a service dog capable of doing this could literally save her life AGAIN, detecting these items before medical teams would normally be aware. These dogs are expensive, and she is in need of donations to help cover the cost.

Christy has had amazing support along this journey to help with her endurance: Her husband, her parents, her son, and the Dallas Cowboys. Now, she needs some financial support. Will you join her?