Fight for Emily (Emily 2.0)

Hi friends.

2/9/2025 UPDATE:

It’s go time! Emily is going in for testing March 3rd-7th to determine if she’s well enough to go on the transplant list. She will need to be able to walk 1000 ft in 6 minutes. That means traveling back and forth to hospital visits, and hotel stays. That means added stress on her body and her mind. Let’s help alleviate  the stress. Any little bit you can give will help as they take off time from work to go to these crucial appointments.

UPDATE from Matt: I have been wanting to give everyone an update on Emily for a while, but I was waiting to do it when we had some good news because there hasn’t been a lot of it going around here lately.

It turns out, the only good news we’re getting lately also comes with bad news.

The good news is that Emily’s doctors have begun the process to get her placed on the Transplant List—Again.

The average life expectancy for someone like Emily after transplant is between 10-15 years. July 7, 2025 will be the 13th anniversary of her first double-lung transplant.

So the good news is that her doctors want her to be able to get another transplant. The bad news is that her doctors want her to be able to get another transplant.

Her lung functions were at 23% when they checked them last and that’s lower than she got before her first transplant.

One of the prerequisites to getting new lungs is that you must be able to walk 1,000’ unassisted. This is to show that your body is healthy enough to deal with another transplant.

Her functions are so low and there is so much stress on her body to breathe that I’d say there’s about a 50/50 chance that she could pass that test.

Unfortunately, there’s really isn’t any “feeling better soon” in her case. She is still very much the pain in the ass she’s always been, but she requires more naps, and for longer, now. She’s still able to work from home and go into the office a few days a week, so she’s not on her deathbed or anything, but she needs me to take care of her pretty much around the clock; there are only a few things she can do without my help.

I broke it down for Jake like this: (and he is handling it all pretty well, I think)

The stark reality of the situation is that Mom is dying. She needs another double-lung transplant or last Christmas may have been our last Christmas together.

We’re still hopeful we’ll have lots of Christmases together, but we’ve got one Hell of a fight ahead of us.

Original message:

If you’re getting this message it’s because you know that Emily has always been a fighter. We believe she’s got one more fight in her. Many of you know that she had her last transplant about 12 years ago. She was a miracle success when she received her last double Lung transplant and we believe she can have another miracle with this next course of treatment. Emily has been undergoing weekly treatments to hopefully slow her Chronic lung rejection she’s been experiencing for some time. During this time she will likely be shifted to the transplant list for another double lung transplant. We’re asking for your help. If you can contribute anything we would be grateful. While she has employment we’re not sure how long recovery will be and how long her vacation and sick leave will cover. Jake, Matt and Emily have no idea we’ve created this. We hope to present them with these funds when the time comes. Em’s doctors have assured them that the time will come for her to have another transplant and it will probably be sooner than later. So if you have anything you can give, please, please do and please share this with anyone in your circle that would be willing to give too.

Love,

Alexa, Melinda, Sheridan, & Amanda ❤️