Lung Surgery for Leigha

Leigha has been struggling with asthma all her life, but in 2014 she had an extreme attack where she stopped breathing and paramedics had to perform an intubation on the street in order to keep her alive. Since being intubated, Leigha’s breathing has become more and more precarious and unstable, severely inhibiting daily life. This year alone, she has been in the ER 8 times.

We have been doing everything we can to keep Leigha’s breathing controlled. She is constantly seeing doctors and specialists, getting various testing, and has been on an endless string of medications. All of these things have been a huge physical, emotional, and financial drain. On top of infinite medical bills, she has had to miss a lot of work and artistic opportunities, putting her in further amounts of major debt, depression, and stress.
It has been a frustrating and endless loop with few or temporary results - she is on the max dosage of numerous medications and has tried everything recommended by her doctors, and is still struggling. 

Recently, doctors proposed lung surgery that is reserved for “last resort” or “severe” asthma patients. The procedure is called Bronchial Thermaplasty, and has been shown to have life-changing improvements for those who have undergone the surgery. Leigha is a great candidate for this surgery. However, it is expensive, and her insurance company won’t pay for it. Studies have found that the procedure is safe and effective, but it is relatively new and insurance companies still consider it “experimental”.

Having this procedure done would drastically reduce the chances of life-threatening circumstances and ER visits, reoccurring costs of medications and doctor appointments, and most importantly this surgery would greatly improve Leigha’s ability to breathe normally and pursue her life.

Thank you in advance for your support. <3