Maggie's Double Lung Transplant

In October 2019 my beautiful mom, Maggie Sanchez was diagnosed with a lung disease called Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). This disease is rare and considered a fatal lung disease. There is currently no cure and the only two treatments available right now only slow down the progression of the disease. Because of the severity of her condition my 58 year old mother is completely dependent on oxygen 24 hours a day and unable to work. It is extremely rare for two family members in the same household have this disease. In 2017, my mother’s sister passed away after 2 years of being diagnosed with IPF in Lima, Peru. The good news is that my strong and motivated mom has been given a second chance at life and we are extremely hopeful. She has been placed on the transplant waiting list and currently on the search for the correct donor for a double lung transplant. She is being treated by some pretty incredible doctors at University of Florida Shands Hospital along with the doctors that diagnosed her at Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Florida. She’s currently admitted now at UF Shands  Hospital until she has the transplant surgery. If my mom is fortunate enough to receive 2 donor lungs and her surgery is successful it will add years to her life expectancy and improve her quality of life. As you probably can imagine this major surgery is a huge financial expense for our family. We will have to relocate my mom to Gainesville, FL for 3-4 months. Between the procedure, medications, oxygen therapy, physical therapy, doctors visits, the recovery process, rehabilitation, etc. there will be a lot of expenses that will fall on us. After the transplant surgery my mom will need to be on medication to make sure her body does not reject the new organs these medications cost about $5k-6k per month. I have set up this GoFundMe page to help my mom during this difficult time. Any contributions are greatly appreciated. From the bottom of my heart I thank each and everyone of you for all the support including all the amazing doctors that have gotten my Mom to where we are today. Please keep my mom and our family in your prayers we are not ready to loose her and hope the perfect donor comes along soon. I will keep you updated on my moms entire journey throughout this process.  Thank you for taking the time to read our story. 

Fiorella, Ricardo, and Joel