Abruzzese Family Transplant
Donation protected
The double lung transplant I received is not for me alone, but for my wife and daughter as well. I have been unable to do the most simple things like eating out, spending time outdoors and enjoying life in a general sense. They too, were prisoners of my illness.
I was diagnosed with COPD in 2007. When I entered the University of Pittsburgh Medical CenterTransplant program in 2014 I could barely walk 100 feet on 3 ml. of Oxygen perr minute. Every activity was difficult and most were impossible. I was using Oxygen 24/7/365 and sleeping with a bi-pap mask to reduce the carbon dioxide content of my blood. Despite my best efforts to exercise I became weaker and weaker.
I was accepted to the transplant program on June 23, 2014. My wife gave up her job and I retired so we could move to Pittsburgh and be available, while still maintaining our home in Bohemia. We were outside the time line by four hours. We arrived August 4, stayed 11 weeks, returned home for a month and then returned to Pittsburgh again and have been here since Thanksgiving.. Housing and travel expenses have already surpassed $10,000, which does not include regular mortgage and utility expenses related to maintaining my home.
I am 66 and now retired, but I expect I will have to return to work when I am cleared by my doctors. We have gone seriously into debt already and we think, despite my insurance coverage, greater funding may be required to maintain the medical regimen and other changes I may have to make.
I received my transplant on Jan 2, 2015. While I am far from out of the woods, as the expression goes, the transformation is nothing short of a miracle. I can already walk greater distances and no longer have to look ahead for places to stop and rest. For me breathing, walking and talking without being out of breath is an unbelievable gift.
No donation is too small and all will be acknowledged.
I was diagnosed with COPD in 2007. When I entered the University of Pittsburgh Medical CenterTransplant program in 2014 I could barely walk 100 feet on 3 ml. of Oxygen perr minute. Every activity was difficult and most were impossible. I was using Oxygen 24/7/365 and sleeping with a bi-pap mask to reduce the carbon dioxide content of my blood. Despite my best efforts to exercise I became weaker and weaker.
I was accepted to the transplant program on June 23, 2014. My wife gave up her job and I retired so we could move to Pittsburgh and be available, while still maintaining our home in Bohemia. We were outside the time line by four hours. We arrived August 4, stayed 11 weeks, returned home for a month and then returned to Pittsburgh again and have been here since Thanksgiving.. Housing and travel expenses have already surpassed $10,000, which does not include regular mortgage and utility expenses related to maintaining my home.
I am 66 and now retired, but I expect I will have to return to work when I am cleared by my doctors. We have gone seriously into debt already and we think, despite my insurance coverage, greater funding may be required to maintain the medical regimen and other changes I may have to make.
I received my transplant on Jan 2, 2015. While I am far from out of the woods, as the expression goes, the transformation is nothing short of a miracle. I can already walk greater distances and no longer have to look ahead for places to stop and rest. For me breathing, walking and talking without being out of breath is an unbelievable gift.
No donation is too small and all will be acknowledged.
Organizer
George Rudolph Abruzzese
Organizer
Bohemia, NY