Hi, my name is Mary Cihlar and I am raising funds for medical expenses and basic living expenses for my mother Jessica Cihlar. She was diagnosed with NASH, otherwise known as Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) Cirrhosis of the liver, in 2020. Every step of the way has been a challenge. Along with the End Stage Cirrhosis, she also has breast cancer, severe diabetes with an A1C of 15.5, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Encephalitis which was brought on from the Cirrhosis that causes ammonia from your liver to go to your brain.

As of September 16th 2025, she was hospitalized for an Encephalitis episode which gives you symptoms similar to dementia like delirium, confusion, inability to speak and/or understand language, amnesia, and altered personality; as well as severe muscle contractions, hand flapping, , and can even cause seizures and coma.

When she was in the hospital they discovered that she had 8 inches of dead large intestine and oxygen going through her blood vessels in her colon and liver. Because of this she had to get the 8 inches of her large intestine removed. She is now left with a colostomy bag and spent 2 weeks in the hospital recovering. She had less than 50% chance of surviving this surgery due to her health complications so she was told to either do this or go on hospice.

Since she with getting the surgery, the medication she had to take for her encephalitis (Lactulose) has to be changed due to the one she was already on was being processed through her colon. They have now told her she can no longer take that medication and her only other option is processed through her stomach (Xifaxan). The issue with this is that this medication costs $4,000 a month and is not covered by her insurance. My mother is currently waiting to get approved for full coverage from state Medicaid stating that we make too much money to qualify for state aid (which is $39,000 a year on a household income of 4) and the other program is trying to get approval from the ONLY manufacturer of this drug based on a copay from insurance that doesn’t cover the drug. We did not get pre approval because this was an emergency and was not expected so it will take 45-60 days for approval. This medication is what my mother needs to live.

On top of the medication costing $4,000 a month, we have no idea how much the hospital bills are going to cost us. Considering she was in the hospital from September 16th - September 30th, we are expecting that to also be extremely expensive.

Even though in the states eyes we make “too much” money for her to get state aid, my family doesn’t even have enough money for rent, bills, etc. If we don’t figure something out for this medication, she will die. Once she goes into an encephalitis episode, it only takes a matter of days for her to have symptoms that can and will be fatal. Our family usually has a lot of pride when asking for help and we figure it out, but in this case that’s not possible so this is our last ditch effort to keep my mom healthy and alive. Anything donated will be going to my mother’s medical expenses.

Thank you for reading, may God bless you.