Hello Everyone,

I would like to take a minute to tell you our story and why we have started a go fund me page.

1. I am Melissa Coe and my Mother Priscilla Scott has had some major medical complications which have recently progressed very rapidly, which I have explained below.

2. My mom and I are from Amherst, MA but she now lives in Belchertown, MA and I live in Danvers, MA

3. We are seeking support from friends, family or anyone who has been through something like this and knows how heartbreaking and stressful it can be.

4. The funds will be used for medical and support expenses.

About a month ago, my mom started having symptoms of her already compromised heart. After many tests and trips by ambulance to her local hospital, she was told she needed a heart transplant. She was med-flighted to Boston, and after the decision was made that she was approved for a heart, she was added to the transplant list. The next day, she was told they had found a heart for her. A few hours before she was scheduled for the transplant surgery, she started having increasing pain in her abdomen. She was taken for an abdominal CT, and when she returned to her room, her transplant doctor called the surgical team and shared with her she had an internal hernia and tragically would not be able to receive the heart just as quickly as she had found one.

She then went down for emergency surgery to examine her abdomen and found 165 cm of her small intestine that had wrapped around itself and had to be removed.

She now needs to rehabilitate to the condition she was in before the surgery, which will most likely take weeks before she is ready. Once they find another heart, there is a long list of things she will no longer be able to do.

After a heart transplant you must avoid lifting anything heavier than 10 pounds for approximately 10 weeks, and refrain from driving for about four weeks. Other restrictions include avoiding strenuous activity until your doctor clears you, not swimming in lakes or ponds, and following a strict medication and follow-up appointment schedule to monitor for rejection.

After surgery, she will need to limit or give up certain things she loves, limits to traveling and gardening just to name a few. She will also have to have someone live with her for a number of weeks because of her limitations.

After returning home for the first 4 weeks, she'll come back once a week to Boston for biopsies.

During the biopsies, they take a tiny piece of the heart muscle and look for signs of inflammation or rejection. This is the only way doctors can tell early on if your body is rejecting your donor heart.

Daily costs for a caregiver during a family member's long-term hospital stay for heart surgery primarily consist of out-of-pocket, non-medical expenses such as food, lodging, parking, transportation, and potential lost wages. There is no single "daily cost" as these expenses are highly individual and vary by location and personal circumstances.

We would also ask if you know of patient advocates who may know of local resources, grants, or support programs that can assist with non-medical expenses, to please share them with us.

Thank you for your support and we will provide updates as they come.