With humble hearts, we are asking for your support for our daughter Grace. After being diagnosed with end-stage liver disease, and after many months of waiting to be placed on the transplant list, she finally received the liver she so desperately needed, only for the organ to ultimately fail, incurring massive blood loss, and putting her already weak and frail body into an even more dangerous and deadly situation. By the Grace of God, she received a second liver transplant within hours of certain death, but her fight for life is only just beginning. This miracle has not come easily; she has been in the Intensive Care Unit for over 6 weeks, and is still facing deadly complications. Your support would help ensure that the acute care she requires will be taken care of, and that she will have the means to return to the beautiful life she once had. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for taking the time to consider helping our family. Please continue reading for a more detailed understanding of this tragic situation.
Like most young women her age, Grace Barbier was accustomed to an active lifestyle and she thoroughly enjoyed her work in the floral and events industry. However, early last year she began to notice increasing fatigue. She passed this off as a consequence of working long hours as well as the physical demands of travel and setting up for large events. Then the pandemic hit and her industry was a casualty. She was laid off, but her fatigue continued. Last summer she was diagnosed with liver disease. To the surprise of her doctors, it was very aggressive and quickly progressed to end-stage liver disease. After several emergency hospitalizations, it became apparent that a liver transplant was her only hope for survival. Finally, after a thorough and exhausting evaluation she was officially added to the transplant list. We were thrilled when she received the call we had all been waiting for (just one week after the most recent hospitalization) and on March 23, 2021 she received a liver transplant at the University of Colorado.
For the first week she seemed to be making the expected progress after such a major and complicated surgery. But then trouble began. She developed infection and went into septic shock. She continued to deteriorate and finally suffered multi-organ failure secondary to primary failure of the transplanted liver. We were told this was very rare and is 100% fatal. She had only another day of survival, at the most, without a second transplant. Thankfully, the second transplant occurred in time but her recovery has been plagued with complications.
She has required dialysis and multiple drugs to fight various infections. She has really struggled with lung problems and has required a tracheostomy and remains on the ventilator. Efforts to wean her off the vent have been one step forward and two steps back. A liver biopsy showed she had de novo autoimmune hepatitis (meaning this developed after the transplant) and has further complicated her course. She is incredibly weak and fragile.
A meeting with her medical team brought out that they were “cautiously optimistic” regarding her survival. She has experienced serious complications that are known to increase mortality risk in transplant patients. We were also told that, assuming survival, her recovery will take several more months, including in-patient physical rehabilitation.
Grace is a creative, intelligent, kind and caring 39 year old woman with a wonderful sense of humor, but this challenge is becoming harder to bear. Grace is a fighter but there are days when we see sadness and resignation in her eyes. If you would like to send her a word of encouragement then please leave a message here on this site.
She would never ask for help, but we know the bills are piling up and so her family is establishing this fund. She needs help with medical bills and basic living expenses.
Please spread the word of Grace’s Liver Transplant 2.0. On behalf of Grace, thank you for your kindness, consideration and generosity.
Like most young women her age, Grace Barbier was accustomed to an active lifestyle and she thoroughly enjoyed her work in the floral and events industry. However, early last year she began to notice increasing fatigue. She passed this off as a consequence of working long hours as well as the physical demands of travel and setting up for large events. Then the pandemic hit and her industry was a casualty. She was laid off, but her fatigue continued. Last summer she was diagnosed with liver disease. To the surprise of her doctors, it was very aggressive and quickly progressed to end-stage liver disease. After several emergency hospitalizations, it became apparent that a liver transplant was her only hope for survival. Finally, after a thorough and exhausting evaluation she was officially added to the transplant list. We were thrilled when she received the call we had all been waiting for (just one week after the most recent hospitalization) and on March 23, 2021 she received a liver transplant at the University of Colorado.
For the first week she seemed to be making the expected progress after such a major and complicated surgery. But then trouble began. She developed infection and went into septic shock. She continued to deteriorate and finally suffered multi-organ failure secondary to primary failure of the transplanted liver. We were told this was very rare and is 100% fatal. She had only another day of survival, at the most, without a second transplant. Thankfully, the second transplant occurred in time but her recovery has been plagued with complications.
She has required dialysis and multiple drugs to fight various infections. She has really struggled with lung problems and has required a tracheostomy and remains on the ventilator. Efforts to wean her off the vent have been one step forward and two steps back. A liver biopsy showed she had de novo autoimmune hepatitis (meaning this developed after the transplant) and has further complicated her course. She is incredibly weak and fragile.
A meeting with her medical team brought out that they were “cautiously optimistic” regarding her survival. She has experienced serious complications that are known to increase mortality risk in transplant patients. We were also told that, assuming survival, her recovery will take several more months, including in-patient physical rehabilitation.
Grace is a creative, intelligent, kind and caring 39 year old woman with a wonderful sense of humor, but this challenge is becoming harder to bear. Grace is a fighter but there are days when we see sadness and resignation in her eyes. If you would like to send her a word of encouragement then please leave a message here on this site.
She would never ask for help, but we know the bills are piling up and so her family is establishing this fund. She needs help with medical bills and basic living expenses.
Please spread the word of Grace’s Liver Transplant 2.0. On behalf of Grace, thank you for your kindness, consideration and generosity.
Organizer and beneficiary
Mark Krantz
Beneficiary