Lisa Selcer's IPF Diagnosis (Lung)

In October 2016, Lisa was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.  What is Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis?  It is a disease in which tissue deep in your lungs becomes thick and stiff, or scarred, over time.  The only cure is a double lung transplant and without the transplant, the disease would take its toll in 3 to 5 years.  According to the Doctors, Lisa is in the fifth year of this timeframe and certainly not a diagnosis that a 54-year old wants to hear. She is now dependent upon oxygen to assist in her breathing and this is critical so that her brain and other organs can get the oxygen they need.

Those who are familiar with Lisa at all know her to be a very caring, hard-working, talented woman. She plays the piano beautifully, teaches Sunday school and is an amazing cook.  She is one who would, as the saying goes, "give you the shirt off her back."  Lisa was raised in Santa Fe, Texas and is a 1981 graduate of Santa Fe High School.  Life has not always been easy for Lisa, but she has always remained positive and thankful for all that God has given her including her three children, five grandchildren, family, and dear friends.  In addition to raising her own family, Lisa has been there over the years for others who needed someone to love them and now is the time for others to be there for Lisa. 

Because of this debilitating disease, Lisa was forced to leave her job in early 2017 and is now on Social Security Disability drawing less than $1200/month.  She is her sole source of income and having to depend on the goodwill of those that surround her and love her to help offset some of the living expenses.  Due to her age, Lisa is not eligible for Medicare so that is another worry added to the list with all the overwhelming medical expenses at hand and those looming in the future.

Lisa has been undergoing testing in order to be placed on the lung transplant list.  Hurricane Harvey interrupted this process and she is now scheduled to meet with her Doctors on October 18, 2017 and hopes to hear that she will be placed on the lung transplant list.  Preliminary preparations were being made at the Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, but it now appears that there may be an issue in being approved to have the transplant at that facility.  Her medical team is in the process of trying to work through the issue and/or finding an alternate facility.  All of this is still dependent upon successfully completing the testing that will clear her for the transplant. 

It is hard to even phantom what a day in Lisa's life must be like and have the will to keep moving forward as she meets the next challenge in this long process.  This quote by Martin Luther King, Jr is that day in Lisa's life -- "If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."  Keep moving forward Lisa!

She is not one who likes to ask others for help but it is time that others rally together to help Lisa as she cannot do it alone.  A donation in any amount that you can afford would be helpful to Lisa during this difficult time.  For those that do not like making an online donation,  donations can be made by sending a personal check made payable to "Lisa Selcer" and mailed to Texas City Missionary Baptist Church * P.O. Box 736 * Texas City, TX 77592-0736.  Your donation will be recorded in the GoFundMe account as an offline donation.

Psalms 34: 17-18 -- “ The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.  The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.