Help Wendy Heal: Urgent Liver Transplant & Recovery Costs

I am Wynona Becker West; I am Wendy McCoy-Adaway's cousin.

I made this GoFundMe for Wendy because right now, she is intubated in a hospital outside New Orleans fighting for her life. She has been there since Friday, 5/9, and is in acute, severe liver failure as a result of accidentally taking too much acetaminophen over the course of a two-day period.

Thankfully, they have found a liver donor that matches with her and Wendy will have a liver transplant Wednesday, May 14th, 2025.

Recovering from a transplant can take at least 5 months. The lasting impact of acute liver failure, even if her liver should rebound, is tremendous. The financial strain on her husband and family is already mounting as it would be for anyone who finds themselves or a loved one unexpectedly intubated in an ICU in another state. That’s without contemplating the medical bills or long-term care needs to get her back to health.

Some background…. This medical episode has been a rollercoaster ride since it began on Thursday, 5/8. As many of you know, Wendy has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and is often in constant pain. She's been working with a physician to manage her chronic pain. She was out of her meds and was going to have to wait three days before she could get them, an eternity for someone with her condition. She was taking acetaminophen in the meantime to help get her through until she could see her doctor. Unaware of the dire consequences that taking this common household OTC medication would bring, she took way too much.

Over the course of Thursday, she was throwing up, tired, and just “off”. She and her husband, Brandon, thought it was just that she was sick and were hoping she would turn around. By Thursday night, she couldn't keep anything down at all and felt awful but hadn’t taken any medication nor acetaminophen in 24 hours or more. Thankfully, Brandon knew something wasn’t right and with his mother, researched what could be going on and learned that she was showing signs of acetaminophen toxicity. Brandon rushed into action and took her to the ER in Port Arthur for what they thought would be a somewhat routine process for treating her, flushing her system, fluids maybe, but things just snowballed. Her test results showed liver/kidney failure. Within the next 12 hours (Friday morning), she was taken via ambulance to the Tulane Transplant Center in New Orleans. When she arrived, blood pressure was very low and extremely labored breathing, so much so that they intubated her immediately and started working with the liver docs on a plan of action.

The doctors started dialysis on Friday night along with an acetaminophen antidote and a host of other treatments to try to get any of the remaining toxicity out of her system. She has been on near constant dialysis since as they work to see if she would turn around. They were evaluating what to do about a liver transplant. But she was so sick that they were worried she wouldn't survive it. By Saturday morning, the doctors put her on the transplant list while continuing to work parallel with treating her as if she could pull out of it.

Since Saturday, Wendy has shown peaks and valleys - starting to stabilize and showing some improvement - only to decline again in some of the key numbers. Ultimately, her progress wasn't where they needed to feel confident that she can live a productive life with her own liver.

Her husband Brandon has had to take off work and use FMLA coverage to be with her. Her dad, Randy McCoy, drove nine+ hours to be there and support both her and Brandon. Randy is retired and as if this situation isn’t already gut-wrenching, it’s compounded by the fact that Wendy’s Mom, Monica McCoy passed away just two months ago. Brandon and Randy are staying in a hotel near the hospital until they can bring Wendy home, which means no income for Brandon for the near future, and at least another 2 weeks spent in a hotel. They need to be there, and family is rallying to help, but the truth is that the road ahead is long. They need our support right now to stay afloat.

Who Wendy Is

Wendy is one of the kindest, quirkiest, and most gentle people you’ll ever meet. She’s from Orange, Texas, and now lives in Orangefield. She used to work at K’Dan's in town and has been training for her dream job — becoming a travel advisor. Wendy has a form of Autism (often referred to as Asperger’s), and she’s always embraced what makes her unique. Wendy has been an inspiration to many in advocating for herself and others being open about neurodivergence to help others. She is strong and brave and an amazing daughter, wife, sister, aunt, cousin, and friend. She loves everything Disney, lives for anime and cosplay, and adores small dogs. She’s the kind of person who lights up when she’s sharing something she loves with someone else.

These funds will help cover:

It’s been a heartbreaking year. We just lost Wendy’s mom, Monica McCoy, this past March — and now this. Anything you can contribute will go directly to helping Wendy and Brandon get through the hardest season of their lives.

Thank you for your love, prayers, and support.