Homeward Bound: Stephanie's Journey
Donation protected
What can I say about my wonderful wife? She is the most generous and caring person I have ever known. When I met her she was an LPN. I guess it makes sense given the lessons she learned from her mom. - Always more worried about other people’s well-being before even her own. I truly found my soulmate when I met her! When I met her my life, was blessed with the added bonus of our daughter and her entire family.
Last February she started getting very ill, at times even having to be in the hospital for a week to ten days at a time. This pattern happened several times. Then in the early morning of July 3rd, she was once again taken to the local ER and subsequently transferred to a larger hospital in Tulsa, OK. It was towards the end of this hospitalization that we learned she was in need of a liver transplant, and was given 2-3 months to live. She was referred to the liver transplant team in Oklahoma City. She was told she would have to lose 80-100 lbs. By her follow up appointment in October, she was given 3 months to achieve this…she was determined to lose the weight and extra fluid and remarkably accomplished this in only 6 weeks through determination and her will to live. Over the next 6 weeks until her follow up transplant visit she had to be taken back to the ER 3 more times. She returned as planned to the transplant doctor on the 14th of October who was very pleased with her progress. She learned at this visit that following additional testing and meeting with transplant team she would then be placed on the donor list. She was very happy and everyone was very ecstatic to say the least.
In addition to her liver failure, while in Oklahoma she was seeing a hematologist concerning a blood deficiency. She was referred to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. A Few days later departed with her Dad and step-Mom on this trip to the Mayo Clinic. Enroute her health deteriorated, she developed hepatic encephalopathy and her mentation has been minimal. The further she got from home the sicker she got. By the time she got to her appointment on the 19th of October she was admitted to the ICU. She had little response most of that time. She was on continuous dialysis, had to be intubated, on a ventilator, and had several IVs. They ended up having to place a tracheostomy tube in hopes of giving her best chance of getting off the vent. Thanks to the wonderful staff at the Mayo, she is now off of dialysis, the ventilator, and all IV medications. She is, however, now in acute liver failure and is 10 hours away from her home and entire family.
Stephanie wants to live. She has proven that time and again in the last 8 months. The excellent staff at mayo clinic has stabilized Stephanie a great deal. She is almost stable enough to be transported back to Oklahoma for further care and to be closer to her family. The cost of a medical flight is well out of our means. The same is true for all the medical bills for her many hospitalizations that have piled up.
We are currently looking for any support we can find to get Stephanie back home to Oklahoma. We are trying to get her back to her family and the medical professionals that have been with her from the beginning as well as the transplant team. Proceeds will go towards getting her home via fixed wing plane with a medical staff as well as her current and future medical bills. We already have a place for her to go in Oklahoma and she will be prepared to be transported as late as this Friday the 13th of November 2020.
Last February she started getting very ill, at times even having to be in the hospital for a week to ten days at a time. This pattern happened several times. Then in the early morning of July 3rd, she was once again taken to the local ER and subsequently transferred to a larger hospital in Tulsa, OK. It was towards the end of this hospitalization that we learned she was in need of a liver transplant, and was given 2-3 months to live. She was referred to the liver transplant team in Oklahoma City. She was told she would have to lose 80-100 lbs. By her follow up appointment in October, she was given 3 months to achieve this…she was determined to lose the weight and extra fluid and remarkably accomplished this in only 6 weeks through determination and her will to live. Over the next 6 weeks until her follow up transplant visit she had to be taken back to the ER 3 more times. She returned as planned to the transplant doctor on the 14th of October who was very pleased with her progress. She learned at this visit that following additional testing and meeting with transplant team she would then be placed on the donor list. She was very happy and everyone was very ecstatic to say the least.
In addition to her liver failure, while in Oklahoma she was seeing a hematologist concerning a blood deficiency. She was referred to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. A Few days later departed with her Dad and step-Mom on this trip to the Mayo Clinic. Enroute her health deteriorated, she developed hepatic encephalopathy and her mentation has been minimal. The further she got from home the sicker she got. By the time she got to her appointment on the 19th of October she was admitted to the ICU. She had little response most of that time. She was on continuous dialysis, had to be intubated, on a ventilator, and had several IVs. They ended up having to place a tracheostomy tube in hopes of giving her best chance of getting off the vent. Thanks to the wonderful staff at the Mayo, she is now off of dialysis, the ventilator, and all IV medications. She is, however, now in acute liver failure and is 10 hours away from her home and entire family.
Stephanie wants to live. She has proven that time and again in the last 8 months. The excellent staff at mayo clinic has stabilized Stephanie a great deal. She is almost stable enough to be transported back to Oklahoma for further care and to be closer to her family. The cost of a medical flight is well out of our means. The same is true for all the medical bills for her many hospitalizations that have piled up.
We are currently looking for any support we can find to get Stephanie back home to Oklahoma. We are trying to get her back to her family and the medical professionals that have been with her from the beginning as well as the transplant team. Proceeds will go towards getting her home via fixed wing plane with a medical staff as well as her current and future medical bills. We already have a place for her to go in Oklahoma and she will be prepared to be transported as late as this Friday the 13th of November 2020.
Organizer
Arlie Lucente
Organizer
Cleveland, OK