Help my mom get a transplant!!!
Donation protected
Aloha Kakou,
Anyone who knows me that my favorite person on the planet is my mom, Karen Rose. She’s basically a walking ray of sunshine that betters the entire world by existing and if you have come in contact with her I am sure she has enriched you in some way. Not everyone knows this but she was diagnosed with Primary Biliary Cholangitis in 1997, the year I was born. PBC is an autoimmune liver disease that slowly destroys the bile ducts within the liver. It is more prevalent among women than men, 10 to 1. At this time there is no known cause or cure. PBC is not contagious, nor is it drug or alcohol related. PBC does not discriminate, affecting women world-wide.
I have lived my life with the knowledge that she has had this illness and that the odds of her being at my wedding or meeting her grand kids someday were not good. There hasn’t been any hope of her overcoming the disease, only living with it. Thankfully last year she was put on the organ transplant list for a new liver! Unfortunately, the wait list for a transplant in Hawaiʻi is the longest in the nation, behind Alabama. Because of this she will be leaving Hawaiʻi and moving to Seattle to receive medical treatment and get listed on the organ transplant list at the University of Washington Medical Center. Her medical team has recommended this move to improve her chances of a timely transplant and survival. She is taking a leap of faith, and making this move with a positive outlook that she will quickly find employment and start her journey toward transplant and recovery. However, leaving an island and starting from scratch is not an easy, nor an inexpensive endeavor. Her first two months will be spent undergoing medical procedures and testing to get approved for the transplant list, finding a job, and securing housing. Her partner will remain in Hawaii for 2-3 months and continue working at Four Seasons until he can transfer to Seattle. My biggest wish in life is that she will receive this transplant! Please show her some love, and support her on this challenging journey. Mahalo nui loa!
-City Sullivan
Anyone who knows me that my favorite person on the planet is my mom, Karen Rose. She’s basically a walking ray of sunshine that betters the entire world by existing and if you have come in contact with her I am sure she has enriched you in some way. Not everyone knows this but she was diagnosed with Primary Biliary Cholangitis in 1997, the year I was born. PBC is an autoimmune liver disease that slowly destroys the bile ducts within the liver. It is more prevalent among women than men, 10 to 1. At this time there is no known cause or cure. PBC is not contagious, nor is it drug or alcohol related. PBC does not discriminate, affecting women world-wide.
I have lived my life with the knowledge that she has had this illness and that the odds of her being at my wedding or meeting her grand kids someday were not good. There hasn’t been any hope of her overcoming the disease, only living with it. Thankfully last year she was put on the organ transplant list for a new liver! Unfortunately, the wait list for a transplant in Hawaiʻi is the longest in the nation, behind Alabama. Because of this she will be leaving Hawaiʻi and moving to Seattle to receive medical treatment and get listed on the organ transplant list at the University of Washington Medical Center. Her medical team has recommended this move to improve her chances of a timely transplant and survival. She is taking a leap of faith, and making this move with a positive outlook that she will quickly find employment and start her journey toward transplant and recovery. However, leaving an island and starting from scratch is not an easy, nor an inexpensive endeavor. Her first two months will be spent undergoing medical procedures and testing to get approved for the transplant list, finding a job, and securing housing. Her partner will remain in Hawaii for 2-3 months and continue working at Four Seasons until he can transfer to Seattle. My biggest wish in life is that she will receive this transplant! Please show her some love, and support her on this challenging journey. Mahalo nui loa!
-City Sullivan
Organizer and beneficiary
Kat Sullivan
Organizer
Kailua CDP, HI
Richard Gonzalez
Beneficiary