Maddie's Lung Transplant Journey
Donation protected
Hi Everyone! Thanks so much for checking out this fundraiser, even if you don't donate it means so much already that you've just looked and taken the time to read my sister's story.
When my younger sister Maddie was 6 years old she became very sick and was diagnosed with Pulmonary Hyptertension (PH for short). PH affects her lungs and her heart. In the simplest way to explain it, she has high blod pressure in her lungs which causes her heart to work harder to pump blood and makes it englarge. People with PH experience a lot of symtpoms like chest pains, shortness of breath, blue lips caused by lack of oxygen and even passing out. There are only a few treatments out there for Pulmonary Hyptertension right now which involves different types of medication pumps and more pills than you can count. You can visit the Pulmonary Hypertension Association's website for more info on the disease. (www.phacanada.ca)
The only way to "cure" PH is to get a double lung transplant and this option is really a last resort. Eleven years after diagnosis, Maddie is now 17 and has already blown through the treatment options. She has begun the process of being assessed for a double lung transplant and is now facing a transplant in the next year or so. Medically there is nowhere for her doctors to go now that the medicine she is on is not as effective as it once was and she is becoming sicker at a rapid pace. While Maddie is waiting for lungs she needs to visit SickKids in Toronto a few times a week for appointments and then once she recieves a transplant she needs to stay in the hospital for a few weeks before she can come home. My family lives about an hour away from Toronto so it's not very easy to get to the hospital a few times a week and costs a lot to do so. These hospital visits a few times a week are mandatory and if she misses an appointment they won't give her the lungs she needs.
I'm asking that you help my family cover medical expenses so we can afford to get Maddie to her appointments and stay at the hospital while she's sick. It takes a huge emotional toll on our family to see Maddie's health decline and it's also a huge financial toll for our parents. They give the sun, moon and all the stars for my sister to enjoy life even if her lungs are crappy and I really want my parents to be able to care for my sister and not have to worry about how to afford gas to get to the next appointment or paying for a hotel room to stay in while Maddie is at SickKids.
I am also asking to help raise money for Maddie to do some special opportunites. Several years ago, Maddie knew that a lung transplant would be a "cure" and that someday she would have to come to that decision. She created a bucket list of things to do when she got new lungs, most being things that she thought she would never be able to do due to her condition. Things she wants to do include:
> swim for more than an hour at a time
> go on a Disney cruse
> go to Florida
> have a sleepover without parents bothering her all night
> travel on an airplane without using oxygen
...and more
Your donations will be greatly appreciated and will help out my family a lot as we begin the journey to get my sister new lungs and start crossing off her post-transplant bucket list.
When my younger sister Maddie was 6 years old she became very sick and was diagnosed with Pulmonary Hyptertension (PH for short). PH affects her lungs and her heart. In the simplest way to explain it, she has high blod pressure in her lungs which causes her heart to work harder to pump blood and makes it englarge. People with PH experience a lot of symtpoms like chest pains, shortness of breath, blue lips caused by lack of oxygen and even passing out. There are only a few treatments out there for Pulmonary Hyptertension right now which involves different types of medication pumps and more pills than you can count. You can visit the Pulmonary Hypertension Association's website for more info on the disease. (www.phacanada.ca)
The only way to "cure" PH is to get a double lung transplant and this option is really a last resort. Eleven years after diagnosis, Maddie is now 17 and has already blown through the treatment options. She has begun the process of being assessed for a double lung transplant and is now facing a transplant in the next year or so. Medically there is nowhere for her doctors to go now that the medicine she is on is not as effective as it once was and she is becoming sicker at a rapid pace. While Maddie is waiting for lungs she needs to visit SickKids in Toronto a few times a week for appointments and then once she recieves a transplant she needs to stay in the hospital for a few weeks before she can come home. My family lives about an hour away from Toronto so it's not very easy to get to the hospital a few times a week and costs a lot to do so. These hospital visits a few times a week are mandatory and if she misses an appointment they won't give her the lungs she needs.
I'm asking that you help my family cover medical expenses so we can afford to get Maddie to her appointments and stay at the hospital while she's sick. It takes a huge emotional toll on our family to see Maddie's health decline and it's also a huge financial toll for our parents. They give the sun, moon and all the stars for my sister to enjoy life even if her lungs are crappy and I really want my parents to be able to care for my sister and not have to worry about how to afford gas to get to the next appointment or paying for a hotel room to stay in while Maddie is at SickKids.
I am also asking to help raise money for Maddie to do some special opportunites. Several years ago, Maddie knew that a lung transplant would be a "cure" and that someday she would have to come to that decision. She created a bucket list of things to do when she got new lungs, most being things that she thought she would never be able to do due to her condition. Things she wants to do include:
> swim for more than an hour at a time
> go on a Disney cruse
> go to Florida
> have a sleepover without parents bothering her all night
> travel on an airplane without using oxygen
...and more
Your donations will be greatly appreciated and will help out my family a lot as we begin the journey to get my sister new lungs and start crossing off her post-transplant bucket list.
Organizer
Jordan Blenkinsop
Organizer
Newcastle, ON
