Hi, my name is Marjorie and I'm fundraising for my dear friends, Lou and Karen Rizza.

Karen suffers from Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD), which is an illness where the tissues between the airways and the blood stream get scarred and thicken, limiting the oxygen getting into the blood and the carbon dioxide leaving the blood and going into the lungs to be exhaled.  

Specifically, Karen has a type of ILD called Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) and may also have Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis (HP).  Pulmonary Fibrosis is the Scarring of the lungs and Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis is like a very bad allergic reaction that causes inflammation and swelling of the lung tissues and airways that lead to additional scarring.  

In simple words, with ILD, IPF, and HP, Karen struggles to breathe, and she has been suffering with it for the past 6 years.

Her lungs process only about 15% of the oxygen she breathes even using supplemental oxygen from a machine.  She can no longer shop, go to the movies, take a walk, or even eat at a restaurant.  Although Covid-19 has limited those activities around the country, she will not get to participate when the restrictions get lifted because traveling outside is too tiring for her.  Her only trips out now are to and from University of California San Francisco Medical Center and some other doctors for tests and check-ups.  Her current quality of life is very limited and being homebound is very frustrating.  Her passions were always going outdoors. When Karen and Lou met, she was a whitewater raft guide for a professional company that worked class III-IV rivers in California and Oregon. Backpacking and hiking were the regular weekend trips.  Today, it is a challenge to step into the backyard to take a picture of a rose in bloom or of the birds that visit the small backyard fountain.

Her lungs are damaged enough that her doctors have determined that in order for her to stay alive, she will have to have a lung transplant.  This surgery is the core of hope for Karen to regain some of her quality of life and to be able to spend time with her 2 daughters.  

The requirements of UCSF for after care for the Transplant will be to live 6-12 weeks within 20 minutes of the UCSF hospital for frequent Dr appointments and any emergencies that may come up during her recovery.  Since the Rizzas live 30 miles from the hospital complex, they will have to arrange living accommodations in San Francisco for the recovery period of up to 3 months.  

The GoFund Me program is to help pay for the costs associated with the living expenses incurred during the intensive recovery.  Short term rentals in San Francisco extended stay hotel or VRBO will run anywhere from $120 to $150 per night and Karen's husband Lou, her daughter, and other care providers will not be able to live at home so will have additional food and gas expenses. 

Please consider helping Karen and her family breathe a little easier knowing they don't have to worry about the extra expenses incurred as they navigate Karen's post-transplant care that is so critical to Karen's recovery.