Kathy Freyder's Medical Fund

Kathy Freyder is a selfless, loving, mother and grandmother. She has been dedicated to raising her three children Justin, Jay, and Alyssa as well as her two grandchildren, Jax and Maddox. She has spent her time volunteering at the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Ronald McDonald House, and watching her grandchildren, Jax and Maddox, while her son and daughter-in-law work. She is always the first one to step up and to help anyone in need. 

In March 2017, Kathy had an incident where she fell down the stairs in her house. Instantly after the incident her arm started bruising. She went to urgent care immediately and found out nothing was broken.  For about a month, the bruising would go away and come back. She soon realized the bruising spread to her other arm. If she barely tapped or grazed her arm against an object or furniture, her arm would bruise rapidly. One day she tripped while walking which caused her legs to swell and bruise. For about two more weeks she struggled to walk and go throughout her daily routine. She went to urgent care, her primary physician, and even the emergency room. They ran blood tests, took x-rays, and sonograms to see what was causing Kathy her sudden bruising. The results were inconclusive and at this point they were guessing cancer, lupus, or something else. Finally, she went to oncologist/hematologist, Dr. Kubba, and he saw how sick she was and decided to hospitalize her immediately.

Kathy was hospitalized in the Hematology/Oncology unit at St. Bernardines Medical Center in San Bernardino, CA. For almost two months they ran tests on her, performed CT Scans, and MRI's. They finally diagnosed her with Acquired Hemophilia. This is a rare autoimmune disorder that occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells or tissues. With Acquired Hemophilia, the body produces antibodies that attack clotting factors. Therefore, she deals with uncontrolled bleeding into the muscles, possibility of bleeding out during surgery, and the inability for her blood to clot. This will cause swelling of body parts, constant bruising, and constant pain. 

They began by giving her morphine for her severe pain, and steroids for the swelling in her legs. She was then given Factor 7 A and Factor 8. This medicine alone costs $5,000-$8,000 every time it is injected. She received this medicine four times a day for around thirty days. The medicine is to help control the bleeding and bruising in her body, and fight off the bad antibodies. She then had to undergo six rounds of chemotherapy.  This also helped in killing the bad bacterias and viruses. Because of the pain and swelling in her legs she was unable to walk for weeks. She had to go through physical therapy while at the hospital to gain the strength and ability to walk. 

She was released from the hospital in the beginning of June 2017. Since she has been home, the bruising has gone down significantly except for some bruising on her legs. She is feeling much better than she had at the beginning of her hospitalization. Unfortunately, she is still very weak and is undergoing physical therapy at home. She goes back to Dr. Kubba to find out how the Factor 7A and Chemotherapy affects the bad antibodies in her body. Although she is doing a lot better, Acquired Hemophilia is something she will live with for the rest of her life. Her pain can go dormant and come back even worse at times. Before any minor or major operation, she needs to receive the Factor 7A to control her bleeding. 

Kathy will soon have dental work done on some of her teeth that will require a dose of the Factor 7A prior to the surgery. 

We are reaching out because of the large amount of medical costs incurred throughout her hospitalization, her continued recovery, and the rest of her life. 

Thank you to everyone who has kept Kathy in their prayers and thank you in advance for everyone who helps Kathy!