Kira’s Double Lung Transplant

Hello! My name is Jessica, a family member of a sweet 10 year old girl named Kira! Kira and her parents/siblings were recently told that she would need a double lung transplant and that this process would start very quickly. We ask that you read her story (below) and help the family with multiple different costs that are upcoming. If you are unable to assist financially, we ask that you pray daily for this sweet girl and her family. Thank you.

When Kira was born we were told to say goodbye. Our sweet PHighter has Idiopathic Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (she simply can’t breathe on her own) – it's an invisible illness. We counted each milestone in days, then weeks, months, and finally years. To say our journey has been challenging is an understatement - but our PHighter is stronger than anyone I know and she never ceases to amaze us!

However, we have had some challenges and it is time to share our new journey. Kira will need a double lung transplant.

October was a scary month for our family. Not because of Halloween, but because our little girl was really sick. Half of the month was spent in the hospital, the other half was wondering, agonizing over, and planning for what could be next. A double lung transplant has been the answer to keep our girl healthy.

Over the next few weeks, we will be traveling to Columbus for tests, meetings, lab results, etc to get Kira on ‘The List’ for a lung transplant - Our goal is to have her listed before Thanksgiving.

Then it will be a waiting game - someone else’s unfortunate event and heartbreak will result in the miracle gift our princess needs. That is a hard concept to grasp and one we are still coming to terms with.

Following the transplant, there will be geographic relocation, months of recovery, physical therapy, lifestyle changes, medication adjustments, frequent hospital visits, new medication regimes, and so much more.

We are reaching out to all of you for financial assistance – to help keep our family together during this most challenging time, while not fretting over losing everything we have worked so hard to have.

Our Kira is resilient and a PHighter. She has had hundreds of hospital visits ranging from day trips to weeks and sometimes months. She has made the best of friends with the greatest UH Rainbow nurses and staff!

Here are some of the medical accomplishments Kira has made in her short 10 years -

From an ECMO machine at 2 weeks old and on a ventilator for 28 days, to breathing on her own with triple medicine therapy. From a half-body cast before her 1st birthday to a hip abduction brace to running and jumping like all the rest. From deaf to hearing. From having to take sponge baths and washing her hair in the sink to pool time in a drysuit, then real baths and showers. From broken central lines with a 4-minute half-life and changing ice packs every 4 hours to medication with an 8-hour half-life and monthly catheter changes. From forever with a backpack to hold her medicine pump to a nifty belt pump and purse.

If there’s anything we’ve learned, it’s that we all must persevere - you never know who you are inspiring or how much they need to see that you can get through it. Kira is our constant inspiration and we couldn’t be more proud of all she has accomplished. While we know it will be challenging, we are looking forward to everything she will accomplish with the precious gift of new lungs.