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Kevin's Heart Transplant



Backstory


Kevin is a loving husband to his wife Jenny and an adoring father to their two daughters Madeline and Siena. Four years ago Kevin was a healthy middle-aged man. A standout athlete in high school and college, he had maintained an active lifestyle throughout his life.  After playing men’s league basketball for many years, riding his bike 10+ miles to and from work, and maintaining a vegetarian lifestyle, he appeared to be in perfect health. He was enjoying watching his daughters grow up, and he was fulfilling his calling to help others through his work as a physical therapist at a local hospital.

In 2015, Kevin had a heart episode at the age of 45. Weeks later, Kevin was diagnosed with Cardiac Sarcoidosis. Sarcoidosis is a mysterious autoimmune disease which causes the body's immune system to attack its own tissue, often in the heart or in the lungs. On June 12th, after a 4 year journey encompassing a risky  experimental surgery, multiple ablations, a pacemaker, and numerous medications, Kevin was given a maximum life expectancy of 6 months. His doctors rushed to get him on the heart transplant list. Only 5 heart transplants occur per day in the US, a mere 2000 per year, despite there being 4000 patients on the transplant list. The odds of receiving a heart are low, and the family returned home to start sorting out a revised life plan. 

Only one day later, on June 25th, Kevin got “the call”. Someone had died, and a heart that matched Kevin’s was available. After the phone call, Kevin needed to be at Stanford by 3:00 PM. At 4:30 PM, he was rolled into the operating room, and at 2:00 AM, after a successful surgery, Kevin, miraculously, has a new, healthy heart.  He is still in intensive care, with a myriad of IVs, chest tubes, and respiratory devices. Though the operation was successful, Kevin's recovery process will be long and difficult; there will be months of monitoring and rehabilitation, as his body and heart learn to work together, all the while battling increased susceptibility to infection and rejection

He and his family will need to relocate to accommodate his 3 month recovery process at Stanford Medical Center. Additionally, Kevin and his family will need to permanently move to the Bay Area, as Kevin will need specialized medical care. 



The Costs


Kevin's extensive medical treatment has tested his family's savings. Kevin is the primary earner in his household and will be unable to work during his recovery period. Kevin's wife Jenny is now his primary caregiver and will be needed to support his recovery. 

Kevin's family will need to temporarily relocate to be near Stanford while he is in recovery. Rent alone for those three months is expected to cost $15,000, with additional expenses related to maintaining two households, moving expenses, travel, and incidentals. After recovery, the family will need to permanently relocate to the Bay Area, where housing costs are much higher than where they currently live.



How you can help


Kevin’s family and friends are banding together to help this amazing family however we can. We all wish we could alleviate Kevin’s pain and suffering throughout recovery; that we could make up for his time away from Madeline and Siena’s days, and that we could lighten Jenny’s burden of care for both Kevin and their daughters. However, much of this is out of our control. What we can do is lift the burden of financial worry, allowing them all to focus on love and health. If you are in the fortunate position of being able to donate, it is much appreciated. If not, that’s fine, and we thank you for reading and for keeping the Krause family in your heart. 


Thank you for your generosity.

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Donations 

  • John Livingston
    • $25 
    • 4 yrs
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Fundraising team (2)

KJ Krause
Organiser
Raised $3,390 from 14 donations
Arcata, CA
Jenny Krause
Beneficiary
Kevin Krause
Team member
Raised $25 from 1 donation
This team has raised $75,242 from 275 other donations.

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