Have a Heart for Kim

Kimberly (Hall) Giles is an amazing young woman who has demonstrated more grace and courage than anyone should ever have to.

 Kim was born with a severe congenital heart defect called Double Inlet Left Ventricle and Transposition of the Great Vessels. Her first surgery was at 28 days old.  Essentially, the wall between the chambers of her heart did not form properly, resulting in her having only 2 chambers to her heart instead of 4 – commonly referred to now as single ventricle.  When she was 6 months old, she moved to the Chicago area and began being treated at Children’s Memorial Hospital which became Lurie Children’s Hospital.  Having access to some of the greatest doctors in the world enabled Kim to live a fairly normal life.  Kim graduated High school and continued her education, earning a Master’s Degree in Health Administration.  She was offered a position with Advocate South Suburban Hospital in the Medical Staff office and has become an expert in Medical Credentialing.

As I have said, Kim has been able to live a fairly normal life, but it has not been without struggles.  Kim turned 34 on October 14th.  In those 34 years, she has suffered through 7 heart surgeries, 4 of which were open heart.  Kim was in the leading group of kids who underwent a surgical procedure called the FONTAN procedure.  Kim’s doctors have told her that she is in medical textbooks and articles (of course, not by name).  Kim is a member of an Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) support group called the Zipper Sisters.  They joke they should have had zippers installed because they have been opened so many times.

As if 7 heart surgeries wasn’t enough, Kim has had to undergo surgery on her knee, wrist, elbow, gall bladder and wisdom teeth.  To top it all off, she suffered a stroke almost 2 years ago due to AVMs in her lungs that allowed a clot to get to her brain.  After months of intense rehabilitation, she was able to return to work.  She has suffered with pneumonia, ovarian cysts and multiple casts on ankles and arms, thyroid issues and has recently been diagnosed with osteoporosis.  During the last year she has suffered from episodes of syncope that prevent her from driving.

Kim has had to battle her entire life and has triumphed to some degree.  But she now faces the biggest battle of her life.  Kim’s heart is beginning to weaken.  In addition, due to the way her blood circulates, she has developed cardiac cirrhosis of the liver.  The doctors have told her that she needs a heart and liver transplant.  Without it, she will not live to see 40.  There is a complication, though.  Because of all of the surgeries and transfusions she has had, she has developed what they call “High Antibodies”.  This makes it much harder to find a suitable donor, plus it increases the risk of rejection.  The one thing in her favor is that she will be getting a liver, which will help filter out some of the antibodies.

Kim had been placed on the Organ Transplant list at a level 4 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.  But at this level, she would never get a heart without being in the hospital.  So the plan was for her to be admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in January to wait for her organs.  Once she was admitted, they will be able to move her higher on the list – probably to a level 2.  

However, she was recently advised that Northwestern has taken her off the transplant list and will not do her transplants there.  Instead, they are referring her to Cedar-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, CA.  Cedar-Sinai is world renown for performing transplants on highly sensitized (high antibody) patients.  The plan will require her to move to Los Angeles for at least 18 months, to wait for her transplant and then follow-up care after transplant.  As you can imagine, this is going to be very expensive. 

As you can see, Kim is very much a fighter.  Many people do not realize her condition because she looks normal.  She goes to work every day (usually only missing for doctor appointments) and tries to maintain a positive attitude even in the face of adversity.  She is proud of what she has been able to accomplish and tries to not ask anyone for help.  But this is a fight that she needs help with.  The fear of the cost and the unknown place a very heavy burden on her shoulders.  Although her husband will continue to work and fly out to see her as often as possible (adding to the expenses), the thought of the costs of her medical bills and living expenses is adding great stress to an already very stressful situation.  Kim has worked hard for what they have but she is very afraid they will lose everything due to her medical bills – the average Heart Transplant costs approximately $1.7 Mil, and she also requires a liver.

I know that Kim will never ask for help so we are asking for her.  She is a kind and wonderful person who would go out of her way to help others.  Please help make this situation a little less stressful and allow her to focus on getting her transplants and recovering so she can get back to her life at home with her husband and Hossa, her puppy.

Thank you and God Bless!

 
Like and Follow Kim on FACEBOOK at 
 
     HEART STRONG – JOURNEY TO TRANSPLANTS

 
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