Help Gwyn Breathe: Medical costs
Donation protected
My sister, Gwyn Towersap has been diagnosed since 2011 with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, which is a severe, terminal lung disease. (http://www.webmd.com/lung/pulmonary-arterial-hypertension#1) In spite of extensive medical treatment, her treatment is failing to help her, and her only recourse is a double lung transplant. Gwyn is currently in the ICU at Intermountain Medical Center because that is the only regional hospital that can offer the specialized care she needs for her disease. A few weeks ago, she was hospitalized with severe heart failure, but she has overcome that with an overpowering will to live. Gwyn is now awaiting review by the University of Utah Lung Transplant Team and (hopefully) listing on the National Waiting List of Organ Sharing.
In order to be listed on the National Waiting List, she has to live within an hour of the University of Utah Hospital, so she can be immediately available when a donor is identified. We are asking for financial help with her relocation costs to Salt Lake, and the living expenses while she is waiting for a suitable donor. Once she gets new lungs, she will have to remain in Salt Lake for post-surgery medical treatment for at least six months, or possibly a year, depending on her recovery. Our home is in on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, north of Pocatello Idaho, which is about 3 ½ hours away from Salt Lake, so we have additional transportation costs for our family, who will be her caregivers during her continued treatment in Salt Lake. We estimate it will cost about $20,000 for her living expenses per year. Gwyn is on medical disability so she does not receive much income.
Gwyn is determined to get better, and is happy to be under review for a lung transplant. She continues to have a cheerful outlook on life, and always tries to smile, even through the pain. She would love to be able to walk along the Salmon River, or better yet, go salmon fishing, and play basketball again. She has always enjoyed being up in the mountains, but since she has been sick, high elevations are not her friend, because it is harder for her to breathe in thin air. As a Shoshone-Bannock Tribal member, Gwyn is grateful for all the offers of prayers and well-wishes from our community. On behalf of my sister, I am asking for any donation to help her live and breathe again.
In order to be listed on the National Waiting List, she has to live within an hour of the University of Utah Hospital, so she can be immediately available when a donor is identified. We are asking for financial help with her relocation costs to Salt Lake, and the living expenses while she is waiting for a suitable donor. Once she gets new lungs, she will have to remain in Salt Lake for post-surgery medical treatment for at least six months, or possibly a year, depending on her recovery. Our home is in on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, north of Pocatello Idaho, which is about 3 ½ hours away from Salt Lake, so we have additional transportation costs for our family, who will be her caregivers during her continued treatment in Salt Lake. We estimate it will cost about $20,000 for her living expenses per year. Gwyn is on medical disability so she does not receive much income.
Gwyn is determined to get better, and is happy to be under review for a lung transplant. She continues to have a cheerful outlook on life, and always tries to smile, even through the pain. She would love to be able to walk along the Salmon River, or better yet, go salmon fishing, and play basketball again. She has always enjoyed being up in the mountains, but since she has been sick, high elevations are not her friend, because it is harder for her to breathe in thin air. As a Shoshone-Bannock Tribal member, Gwyn is grateful for all the offers of prayers and well-wishes from our community. On behalf of my sister, I am asking for any donation to help her live and breathe again.
Organizer and beneficiary
Yvette Towersap Tuell
Organizer
Pocatello, ID
Gwyn Towersap
Beneficiary
