Love is Action: Help Lucy with Kidney Transplant

Gina Marie Wilke is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

#LightforLucy #unaluzparalucy #kidneytransplant

I created this campaign to raise money for a kidney transplant for Luz, a dear friend from my community where I live in Mexico, back in December of 2021. We have already raised $15,000!!!

Luz means “light” in Spanish, and she is truly a light to us all. Everyone who loves her calls her Lucy. In April of 2021, she was diagnosed with “renal insufficiency”. Since that day her life has changed substantially.

Lucy is 45 years old and a loving wife to Manuel, who is blind. She has always been a great support in his life. Lucy is a sister to 11 siblings. Lucy’s beautiful and large family is an important part of our community here on the Chapala lakeside, just south of Guadalajara, Mexico.

Before her diagnosis, Lucy was very active and independent. She worked in the family tortilla business, in sales, and was active in the community, singing in a local band of traditional Sonora music. Lucy also acted as a coordinator for the philanthropic organization Open Hearts. Open Hearts assists people struggling with illness. Every year since 2005, Lucy has organized an impressive and successful all-day fundraiser with live music and food. She has surely touched many lives with this annual event, and she hopes to be able to continue after her transplant.

Since her diagnosis in April, her days are filled with hemodialysis treatments, discomfort, and exhaustion. Suddenly she is in need of help for basic daily tasks. Before her diagnosis, Lucy was able to work, and now she and Manuel rely solely on his earnings and help from friends and family. You will never hear Lucy complaining, and you can often see her out and about with her walker smiling. Lucy continues to be a light of strength and hope for those around her.

Here you can see Lucy making tortillas, working and contributing, despite her illness.

Lucy is doing everything in her power to get healthy. She follows all the indications of the doctor. She has changed her diet and is only allowed one liter of water a day. She has a catheter connecting to her heart, and must go in twice a week to have this tube hooked to a machine so her blood can be cleaned, and excess fluid and inflammation can be flushed from the body (hemodialysis). She takes very good care of her tube, must sleep only on her back or left side, and she hasn’t needed to change her tube once since her diagnosis. The doctors tell her that normally people go through 3 of these tubes a year and it costs $1,200 to change the tube.

Every day that passes without the transplant, she must remain on her medication, and it’s more and more taxing on her organs. Every week that passes without the transplant she must spend large sums of money on hemodialysis treatments just to maintain her life. It’s urgent that she get the transplant as soon as possible and this is why she and Manuel have decided to look into payment options for the $33,000 Surgery. Lucys most recent blood analysis reflects that her body is ready for the surgery and she is in good condition for it. She already has 3 potential donors from her family, her sister and her 19 year old niece, along with her husband Manuel. As soon as she has the money, she can get the surgery! With the surgery, she can have 25 more years of life!

The medical expenses for Lucy’s weekly dialysis treatment are an immense hardship on the family. Private insurance in Mexico is only available through a corporate employer. Due to the nature of Luz and Manuel’s work, having small businesses, they do not have access to private insurance. They would normally address their health needs through the public health care system in Mexico, however kidney transplants are not available at the public hospital. Therefore, Luz and Manuel are required to pay the full amount of the surgery at a private hospital, without the help of insurance. To give perspective, the cost of this same surgery in the USA ranges between $300,000 and $450,000.

Here in Mexico it costs $24,000.

Any help given will truly help this loving family stay together and get through a very difficult time. Here on Go Fund Me, we are hoping to harness the power of our larger global community to bring relief and joy and support to Lucy.

Any giving spirit you can share with Lucy is sincerely appreciated. Every dollar makes a difference! 100% of donations will be given directly to Lucy. She is committed to applying all money raised here on Go Fund Me towards the cost of her surgery. She and Manuel will pay her other weekly medical expenses with Manuel’s income, help from family and friends, and direct donations to the San Antonio hospital. Please share the link for this Go Fund Me on your social media. You can make a difference and bring light and hope back to Lucy’s life.