Hi everyone!!

Phew, this is tough. For those of you that don’t know, my dad (Pa as you all know him) is in the primary testing stages to get a lung transplant at UCSF. Back in December he got COVID, then pneumonia and thankfully he survived. After he was cleared of COVID & pneumonia he was still having trouble with shortness of breath, not uncommon but his dr was concerned it was something else. The dr was right and my dad was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, his lung tissue is scarred which makes it difficult for him to breathe. He has about 70% lung capacity and only about 40% of the function that transports oxygen to his organs. They don’t know the exact cause but my dad was a welder for about 40+ years and actually was working up until last December (Local 342). He’s worked in refineries and different environments where he had to breathe in different chemicals and metal dust.

He’s on oxygen full time now. Other than the pulmonary fibrosis, he’s a very healthy 73 year old and the lung transplant team at UCSF is confident about a single lung transplant.

We have been encouraged by the UCSF team to start fundraising. This is totally out of my comfort zone and DEFINITELY out of my dad’s but it is something we NEED to do. As you can imagine even with insurance this is a very expensive procedure. There is the back and fourth from SL to SF, visits to his primary physician and pulmonologist there are multiple tests and appointments. He needs to be cleared from head to toe. We’ve already seen a dentist, done bone density, lung scan, EKG, chest X-ray, pulmonary function tests and that’s just the beginning. Once he’s cleared for and gets the transplant we will have to live in the city for 6 weeks, he will need 24 hour care during that time.

If you know Pa, you know he’s super tough and can get through this. He just needs a little bit of your help to make sure everything is covered.

Thank you for taking the time to read ❤️