Support Madison's Journey to Health and Independence

Hey guys! My name is Madison and this is my story!

In 2014, at the age of 18, I was diagnosed with a disease called Lupus. Lupus is where your immune system doesn’t know the difference between what’s good and what’s bad, so it attacks anything it wants. Kind of like I am allergic to my own body in a way. Since receiving that diagnosis, I have had many different health issues that came with it. In 2018, my lupus caused me to develop Pulmonary Hypertension. PH is where the artery that goes from the heart to your lungs is swollen and doesn’t allow the flow of oxygenated blood into the lungs as needed. My lungs sadly started to fail me due to this. On May 25th, my family almost lost me for good. My heart stopped beating, and by the grace of God and the healthcare workers around me at that time, I am able to be here today to tell my story. I went into a two-week coma after that and woke up to the news that I would need to have a double lung transplant. This medical situation had also not only attacked my body but my life. I was also going through a pretty messy divorce. On July 6th, 2018, I received the call for new lungs, and on July 7th, my old lungs were gone, and I had received such an amazing gift. I am forever grateful for my donor, whoever they are, for making the decision that if something sadly happened to them, they wanted to be able to save a life with the gift of organ donation. So here I am. Now, sadly, my body decided to reject those lungs, and for 5 years, I lived in chronic rejection. I was unable to do anything. I was in a wheelchair. I had to wear oxygen. My family had to help me shower because I was unable to wash my own body due to being so weak. My lungs were failing me again. So in 2021, I was put on the transplant list for a second time. All I could do was wait and wait. For 5 months, I waited. On March 27th, at 7:07 in the morning, I received the call that there were lungs, and I needed to get to my transplant hospital immediately. In the middle of a pandemic, I underwent a second double lung transplant!! Which leads me here today. I was doing amazing with these lungs. I was running, jumping, swimming. I was getting to be able to be the Aunt I have always wanted to be to my 20, yes 20, nieces and nephews. They had their Aunt Maddie back!

A year ago in November, I got sick again. I had gotten pneumonia and became septic and almost lost my life. Since then, I have been in the hospital on and off. I’ve spent about 90 percent of the year in the hospital and 10 percent at home struggling to do anything. Even going to the bathroom, I would be gasping for air. This last year in the hospital has been one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. A few months ago, I started peeing blood and having some issues with my kidneys. While doing a 24-hour urinalysis, we also found cancer cells in my uterus. To add to that, I also have a golf ball-sized blot attached to my heart that is too dangerous to remove, so it just sits there, cemented to my heart. A few weeks ago, I also received the news that the bottom lobes of my lungs are showing signs of chronic rejection. Hearing this has crushed me. I have fought long and hard every day just to receive this news. A third lung transplant is very, very rare, and as of now, I would not qualify for one. There are some treatments that I am going to be going through that have had some great success stories for people with chronic rejection! Sadly, the damage that is already done cannot be reversed, but I can help stop it from getting worse. With that being said, I will be having a lot of trips back and forth between my home and Pittsburgh. This GoFundMe and any fundraiser I will be doing in the future is to raise money for a good and reliable vehicle. I am not the type of person who asks for help, especially for things like this, but I can’t do this alone anymore. I have learned from some pretty amazing people that it is okay to ask for help when needed. So here I am. All donations are going towards getting me a vehicle that won’t have me worried if it’s going to break down in the middle of the road while I travel 3 hours away for my doctor’s appointments. If you can help in any way, my family and I are truly grateful. And if you can’t donate, you can help by sharing the link so others could see. But the main thing I truly need from everyone is your prayers. My body has gone through so much that I tend to forget that my mind needs help too. My mental health has been struggling. I am doing my best, and I am trying my hardest. So even if you cannot donate, please pray for me. I know I am meant for greater things. God has a plan for me.

“If one person’s life is changed by what I go through, it’ll all be worth it.”

Thank you,

Madison Parker