<div>Hello everyone,
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<div>I'm Heather Fisher, and I'm Taylor St. Pierre's Aunt. Together with Taylor's mother, Heidi, and our family, we are deeply committed to supporting Taylor through this challenging journey. As Taylor prepares to undergo a life-changing surgery, we are reaching out to raise funds to help cover her medical expenses and provide the necessary support during her recovery.
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<div><strong><em>The time has come and Taylor's pancreas is no longer welcome. PAT MUST GO!!! </em></strong>
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<div>As most of you know Taylor has been battling her evil pancreas for 10ish years. <strong><em> "Pat", </em></strong>as Taylor has comically nicknamed her pancreas, has been large and in charge for half of her lifetime.
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<div>Pancreatitis is a horrific and debilitating disease and Taylor has endured more medical treatment and care in the past 10 years than most of us experience in a lifetime. She has had countless lab draws, doctor appointments, surgeries, interventional procedures and hospitalizations. We have traveled near and far to obtain proper medical care over the last 10 years including Butte, Anaconda, Helena, Kalispell, Missoula, Sacred Heart Children's Hospital - Spokane and Seattle Children's.
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<div>She has missed an ungodly amount of school and work during this time not to mention all the normal fun kid things that she has been unable to partake in.
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<div>Pancreatitis is quite rare in young people so finding a medical team to care for her has led us all over the place. This surgery is also extremely rare. Only the sickest of the sick patients are selected to be a "good candidate " for this surgery. The surgery is also so incredibly rare that only a very small amount of medical centers in the United States perform it.
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<div>Recently, Taylor has received specialized testing and evaluation at OHSU - Portland, and University of Minnesota - Minneapolis to determine whether or not she is a<em> "good candidate" </em>for the <strong>LIFE SAVING SURGERY</strong> -- <strong>Total Pancreatectomy with Auto Islet Transplant (TPAIT). </strong>
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<li>The surgery itself will last approximately 12 hours.
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<li>She will be hospitalized for an average of 9-14 days.
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<div>Once discharged from the hospital she is required to stay in the "city" where surgery took place for 4-6 weeks to be in close proximity to the medical team for continuous post op monitoring. Once the team decides she is well enough to go home the recovery continues for an additional 4 months.
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<li><strong>Typical surgery date to final release is 6 months. It's a LONG HAUL! </strong>
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<li>Taylor will be required to return to the medical center for evaluation by the medical team at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months post op.
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<div>What does this mean for Taylor?
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<li>Taylor will be off work and away from school for 6 months.
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<li>Mom (Heidi) is required to be Taylor's caretaker and will be off work for 2-3 months to tend to Taylor's every need.
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<li>This means Taylor will be literally FIGHTING to get her LIFE back. A completely new and unknown life and we honestly have NO idea what that looks like.
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<div>Can she live without a pancreas?
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<li>Yes!! She will be required to take digestive enzymes for the rest of her life. These enzymes will help her body digest the food she eats.
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<li>Removing Taylor's pancreas also means that she will be Type 1 diabetic.
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<div>What degree of insulin dependence will she require?
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<li>The easy answer (and the hardest) is we have absolutely NO idea.
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<div><strong><em>What we do know is: </em></strong>
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<div>Diabetes is <strong>WAY </strong>more manageable and tolerable than pancreatitis.
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<div>Are there complications? Yes! Of course there are complications! The surgeon will literally remove her pancreas, spleen and appendix. Then he will "re-plumb" all of her other organs/intestines to put her back together again.
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<div><strong>Humpty Dumpty ain't got nothing on Taylor!</strong>
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<div>The potential for post op complications is quite high but worth the risk.
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<div><strong>Taylor is an EXTRAORDINARY young woman with an entire lifetime ahead of her.</strong>
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<div>She is determined to finally say: <strong>GOODBYE, PAT!! </strong>
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<div>Please consider supporting her fundraising efforts. This is just the beginning.
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<div>Any and ALL support financially and prayer is greatly appreciated and will be used to help cover medical expenses, travel expenses and any costs associated with Taylor being off work/school for 6 months and Heidi being off work for 3 months.
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<div>Love,
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<div>Taylor &amp; Heidi
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Robin Hess

Ashley McGee

Lisa Williams

Becky Giono

Steven Carr

Edward Dennehy

Justin Lerum

Larry Carden

Brittany Elder

Mary R Gallicano

Debora Mcmahon

Justin Shenkel

GoFundMe Team

Nicole MCArthur

Nancye Rahn

Keith Johnston

Colleen Talbott

Allison Sutton (Rhoads)

Anonymous

Taylor's Journey: Conquering Total Pancreatectomy Together

Taylor's Journey: Conquering Total Pancreatectomy Together

Still $19,845 to go. Help us build momentum.