As I write this, I'm sitting beside my sister in a hospital room she hasn't left in two weeks. She is trying to sleep. Her breathing sounds labored - frightening even. I glance at the monitor above her bed. Her heart rate is 115 beats per minute while she sleeps. An alarm begins chiming to warn us that her oxygen is dropping. Nurses enter, adjust her oxygen mask, silence the alarm, and quietly leave.

This is not considered an emergency. This is normal.

I am struck by how normal the abnormal has become for my baby sister - the baby girl I held within minutes of her birth. The little girl always running around with giant eyes and messy hair. The young woman who reached for all life had to offer, only to be held back by a body that would not cooperate.

8 years ago, Kailee was diagnosed with idiopathic arterial pulmonary hypertension and chronic kidney disease. Since then, she has survived multiple episodes of heart failure. She has learned to live bravely inside a body that has not made things easy.

This past year brought a new and devastating diagnosis: severe aplastic anemia.

Aplastic anemia means her body has stopped producing the blood cells her body needs to survive - red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Over the past year, Kailee became fully transfusion dependent. The time between transfusions grew shorter and shorter and the urgency for the bone marrow transplant became undeniable.

A bone marrow transplant is her only curative option.

Because of her pulmonary hypertension and kidney disease, this transplant is complex and high risk. There is nothing simple about this fight. Everything is hard right now. Breathing is hard. Walking a few steps a day with the aid of a walker is an achievement. Even basic tasks like dressing herself and going to the bathroom require help. Watching someone you love endure this level of suffering is indescribable.

And yet, Kailee keeps fighting.

She fights because she is not done here yet. She has everything ahead of her.

Kailee is a gentle and generous soul. She loves life and just wants a place in it. Though her illnesses have taken away her own chance at motherhood, she pours that love into her nieces and nephews. She never misses a birthday party or football game if she is well enough to be there. She is married to the love of her life, and together with their two beloved dogs, they have built a beautiful life filled with hope and dreams still waiting to be realized.

Right now, Kailee and her husband are facing overwhelming medical expenses, relocation costs, lost income, and a long and uncertain recovery. Transplant recovery is not measured in weeks. It is measured in months, sometimes years.

We are asking for your support as Kailee fights for her life, and she's fighting like hell.

Your donation will help ease the financial burden so she can focus on healing. If you are unable to give, sharing this page and lifting Kailee in prayer and positive thoughts means more than you know.

Kailee has spent years showing up for others.

Now we are showing up for her.

Thank you for loving her with us.