New Liver and Life for Dawn

We are all loving friends and family of Dawn Yemma, a badass grandmother and amazing creative legend who dearly needs our help.

All funds donated will help Dawn and her family navigate her time away from work, and manage all the meals, lodging, travel, and other countless expenses that accompany her health journey.

From Dawn:

Dearest friends and family,

After years of living with and controlling my diabetes, I was suddenly confronted with a hard new reality. My liver was failing.

In November of 2020, with shortness of breath and quickly progressing fluid retention, I was advised to go to the ER. There I was diagnosed with non-alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, caused by my diabetes.

Since then, under the care of my hepatologist, I have been managing my cirrhosis, most recently with twice-weekly paracentesis (think Violet getting juiced in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). About the time I was feeling that living this way simply was not sustainable, I crashed on Christmas Day, 2022. 

I fell out of bed, became incoherent, and was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. I headed to Mayo Clinic to complete a four-day evaluation to be considered for transplant and hopefully secure a spot on the transplant list.

My outpatient evaluation quickly turned to inpatient after only a few hours on the first day.  My very sick liver is now causing my kidneys to fail.  I have been completing all transplant evaluation steps as inpatient, and I have started dialysis 3x/week. 

The doctors believe that if I were to receive a liver transplant, my kidneys would recover. My case will be presented to the transplant board on Wednesday, February 15th, 2023. I am hopeful that I will be approved to receive a transplant, get added to the transplant list (UNOS - United Network for Organ Sharing), and hopefully will receive the lifesaving liver that I need. 

You, along with my work and my family (especially my grandkids), have been sources of inspiration and purpose in my life. With your help and with my daughter Brittany’s amazing care, we will get there! Thank you for reading. Thank you for your friendship, generosity, and love. You mean the world to me.

Dawn