Hello friends and family,

I reaching out to humbly ask for your prayers and financial support as I prepare for an unanticipated major surgery in Minneapolis.

Recovery from this surgery will require me to stay in Minneapolis near my surgical team for a total of four weeks - one week in the hospital, plus an additional three weeks in a hotel after I’m discharged - with a friend or family member as a caregiver for the duration of that time. I am extremely fortunate that my health insurance will cover the majority of the medical costs of my surgery and hospital stay, but none of the costs of accommodations or transportation are covered by insurance. This is why I am very humbling appealing for even the smallest amount of support you might be able to offer. Any monies raised will go directly towards paying the cost of accommodation for a dear friend to be with me while I’m inpatient, and for my Dad to be my caregiver for the following three weeks. Anything above and beyond will be put towards their airfare.

Back in 2016 I had a massive surgery at the University of Minnesota that saved my life, although I lost my entire pancreas, spleen, gall bladder, and appendix, and had a cell transplant. That surgery required me to stay in Minneapolis for eight weeks in total, and was an overall success. However for the last seven months I have been getting recurrent small bowel obstructions, requiring hospitalization for days to weeks at a time. Recently, at their worse, I lost so much weight that I had a PICC line placed and started receiving total IV nutrition for up to 20 hours a day. The likely cause of these obstructions is widespread internal scar tissue from my original surgery, which is trapping and constricting my intestines, causing the obstructions. My surgical team has determined that I’ve reached a critical point where they need to operate again to remove as much scar tissue as possible to try to prevent further complications, and have scheduled surgery for February 7th.

I’m not good at asking for help, but if I’ve learned anything over the last couple of years, it’s that it takes a village to stay strong, and also that people often want to help but don’t know how. So here I am, swallowing my pride in this time of need and asking for any help you might be able to offer. Thank you for at least taking the time to read my story, and Happy New Year!

Love,

Katie