Send Katie to TX for Surgery ASAP!

Hi, my name is Heather Weber. I'm an ordained Assemblies of God minister, a writer, and a life coach, but for my purposes here, please just think of me as a friend of Katie Highsmith who wants to help her get all the care she needs on her medical journey. Would you do me a favor and read her story?

Katie's Story:

Katie was diagnosed with endometriosis at age 14. I know what you’re thinking: That’s the disease that affects women’s pregnancies and fertility, right? For many women, YES. For an unfortunate small percentage of women, NO. Endometriosis can travel and spread around the body, affecting vital organs, wrapping around them and squeezing so that the disease becomes life-threatening. 

Katie has that kind of endometriosis. And right now, she is experiencing the symptoms of what is likely “Stage IV thoracic, cardiac, and pelvic endo recurrence.” What does that mean? Well, she is having all the same symptoms she had in two years ago before her last surgery, when the endometriosis was growing on and in her heart, lungs, kidneys, digestive tract, and pelvis.

The only way to officially diagnose or “see” the endometriosis is when she’s having surgery. But in fact, Katie has had SIX previous surgeries since the age of 14 to address these exact issues. She was in remission since her surgery in April of 2021, and there’s no clear indication as to why the endo has grown back, although her recent pregancy losses and the hormone fluctuations that come with those may have contributed. 

Right now she is experiencing debilitating pain, weakness, low/high heart rate, shortness of breath, and fatigue–all symptoms she experienced before. In her experience, these symptoms worsen the longer it takes to have surgery, which is necessary in order to go on living, not to mention working and caring for children in her future. 

This is all terrible news. But what makes it harder is that insurance companies don’t have a billing code for the highly specialized surgery that Katie needs, meaning that they will not cover any of the costs of the surgery. Insurance companies continue to operate as if endometriosis is just a thing women get in their pelvis region that can be eliminated with a shorter procedure. 

What she needs:

Katie needs a two-surgery process (right lung/pelvis, then left lung/pelvis 5 days later) in Denton, TX, with one of the top endo specialists in the world, Dr. John Dulemba and Dr. Tung Cai, a cardiothoracic specialist. (Why Texas? There are only a handful of doctors in the world who do these surgeries; two are in Texas). The trip will last at least 10 days (travel, pre-op, surgery #1, a 2-3 day hospital stay, recovery in an AirBnB, post-op/pre-op, surgery #2, 2-3 day hospital stay, recovery, and travel home).

Recovery from these surgeries will be very intense for one month and require an additional 3-4 months until she can resume daily activities. 

If you feel overwhelmed reading about all that is required, then you can imagine that Katie and her husband AJ have more on their plates than they can possibly carry alone, including the expense of saving her life, which they cannot afford on their own. They are scared, devastated at the return of the endo and the risks involved in the surgeries, and need a community to rally around them. 

If you’ve read this far, I’m asking if you would join TEAM KATIE and donate to her medical, travel, and recovery fund, and please share this GoFundMe page so others can support her as well. If you want to follow her story, you can do that at CaringBridge . 

If you know Katie, you know she’s a world changer. We want her to live life to the fullest, pursue her dream of hospital/hospice chaplaincy, be able to be a healthy mom and wife, and continue leading worship at her church and singing with the Drake choir.

Thank you for supporting her and AJ during this season!

Below is a breakdown of costs as well as other ways you can help: 

$15,962 - fundraising goal

Break-down of medical costs:*

$6600 - Dr. Dulemba consult/pre-op/surgery cost - not covered by insurance 

$4200 - 3 pieces of Amniofix (material placed during surgery to prevent further adhesions)

$700 - Pain management medications and supplements for August/September ($350 per month) to manage pain and symptoms

$462 - Estimated GoFundMe fees

= $11,962 - total medical costs 

Travel:

$1100 - estimate for AJ/Katie flying to TX

$2000 - estimated cost of Airbnb in Denton for 10 days, must be recovery-friendly 

$900 - estimated cost for 10 day car rental

= $4,000 - total travel costs

Ways to help:

GoFundMe - Katie

MealTrain - food, gift cards to restaurants/takeout

Shipt - groceries

Planner - companionship, home tasks, accompaniment to appointments

Massage gift certificates - decreases pain 

Pray for Katie and AJ

Visit Katie, or take her out for coffee!

Send Katie an encouraging Scripture passage

*Medical/Travel costs were updated on 8/11/23 to reflect variables in rental car fees, airbnb, and airline travel.