My name is Joshua Hickman. I'm the husband of 24 years and sole caregiver of my wife, Tammy Hickman. In July of 2020, my wife Tammy got the COVID-19 virus, as did many Americans and people around the world. She got very ill but was able to recover from COVID-19 at home with her family. But unlike most people that survived the COVID-19 infection, it triggered her body to activate Autoimmune Hepatitis (AIH), a rare, chronic liver disease that occurs when the body's immune system attacks the liver.

In January of 2022, Tammy, who is a postmenopausal biological female, suddenly started bleeding from what she thought were her biological female parts. She barely made it outside our restroom when she began vomiting blood rapidly and was rushed to BAH, our local hospital. They kept her for a short time and diagnosed her with Esophageal Varices, dilated submucosal distal esophageal veins connecting the portal and systemic circulations, and accused her of being an alcoholic (Tammy had not drunk alcohol in over 12 years due to personal choices and watching others lose control and destroy their families). She was life-flighted to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center. This was during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when Tammy was rushed into emergency surgery where they performed an emergency procedure to stop the bleeding and Variceal band ligation, a procedure that is done during endoscopy. A physician places small rubber bands around varices to prevent them from bleeding. Endoscopy is usually repeated approximately every two weeks after the bands are placed to determine if additional bands are needed.

After 9 days at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center without a firm diagnosis other than Cirrhosis of the liver, she came home where she suffered from Hepatic Encephalopathy for months and had a hard time remembering things. Her equilibrium was off to the point of not being able to care for or maintain her independence, including dressing herself and bathing. She fell many times, causing damage to her knee. She struggled to want to fight to live on. After being home for a short time, Tammy's health continued to go downhill. Tammy was following up with her primary care physician but was still unable to get clear answers to what was happening to her. On 3/29/23, Tammy finally got a diagnosis of Autoimmune Hepatitis (AIH). On 4/3/23, she was hospitalized again at BAH due to a C. diff infection, low platelet count, and anemia due to the fact she was still bleeding internally and passing blood in her stool. Tammy was released after approximately 5 days.

Then on 5/4/23, we traveled back to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center where she had a Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS) procedure, a minimally invasive procedure that creates a shunt in the liver to relieve pressure and help stop bleeding. The procedure involves placing a stent, or tube, between the portal vein and the hepatic vein in the liver. The stent is a scaffold to support the connection between the two veins. She was sent home where she has been suffering ever since. We have been fighting to get her on a liver transplant list. We have received letters of denial from PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center saying they don't feel she is a viable candidate for a liver and refuse to allow her to be placed on the transplant list. We think this is due to the fact she is on state medical insurance (OHP Oregon Health Plan).

Tammy's life today is going downhill fast. At this point, she is filled with fluid every week. On Thursday, her day is going to BAH to get a thoracentesis, a medical procedure that removes fluid or air from the pleural space, or the area between the lungs and chest wall, for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes, removing 1.5 to 2 liters a week due to her liver not functioning, causing the fluid to fill the space around her right lung, causing her oxygen levels to drop at times to 85%, which can cause damage to her brain.

On October 23, Tammy has an appointment in Portland at OSHU where our son Cody Hickman is going to be tested to see if he is a match for a directed donation of a lobe of his liver to his mom. Their blood types match, so we are hopeful, but OSHU has made it public to her medical staff at NBMC that they do not want to do the directed donation due to their poor success rate with the procedure and their risk to both patients. We have asked to have her care moved to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles Hospital but were told the OHP (Oregon Health Plan) would not cover anything outside Oregon, and without the money to ensure their payment, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles Hospital wouldn't take her as a patient. The average cost of a liver transplant in the United States is $750,000+ without help from her insurance. Plus travel and costs we can't even cover our monthly expenses from month to month with the extra medical cost for incontinence supplies.

We are fundraising to cover the costs of Tammy's medical care and to get her the treatment she desperately needs.