Hello, thank you for taking the time to read this. :)

Some of you may know me, Ashley. You probably know my mom, Pam. We live together with our soul dog, Clover, in Calgary, AB.

My mom is needing a double lung transplant. She has severe COPD (chronic obstruction pulmonary disease) and is on 8 litres of oxygen (if not higher when exerting herself to upwards of 12 litres) everyday. This is a 24 hours, 7 days a week thing. She does not live without oxygen currently.

This looks like having two machines in our household that generate oxygen for my mom’s main supply of breathable air. She also has around 10 tanks at any given time around the house. These last approximately an hour each time she uses one. (We don’t go out on very long outings). My mom uses a walker to steady herself for far distances. My mom also using a cane for short distances. However, she cannot do anything outside of the house, alone.

She will be submitted to the surgeons and at the end of this month and she will hopefully be put on the list to receive this transplant up in Edmonton. Because transplant is in Edmonton, that means we will have to relocate for 2 short periods of time to Edmonton. Once for 4 weeks for a transplant training program before the end of 2025, and once for 3 or 4 months for surgery. This is where all of you come in.

I will need to take a 4 week leave from work (which I may not qualify for Employment Insurance (EI) due to the length of time) and then leave again 3 to 4 months for the actual surgery as I am and will be especially during/after surgery my moms primary caregiver. Because of this I will qualify for EI under a caregiver benefit for the actual surgery. However, EI, as I’m sure many people know, do not give you your full wage. We will have to continue to pay our rent of our current home which is in Calgary (as we were strongly encouraged NOT to move to Edmonton for the time), as well as rent in Edmonton. For the 4 weeks we may have to put Clover into a boarding facility due to the lack of options available for our living in Edmonton, and potentially for the actual surgery as well.

Our hopes is to have enough money raised so that when we get the call we can deposit the raised funds into our account and focus on a smooth surgery and recovery. Not having to stress about money during an already incredibly stressful time.

Things that your money (if you choose to support us in this time of need) will go towards is:

- Rent in Edmonton

- Rent in Calgary

- Boarding for Clover

- Food and Gas while driving to and during our time in Edmonton.

- Parking at the Hospital

We appreciate your time, support, and patience with us through this incredibly difficult time.