Mary's Heart Transplant

UPDATE ON 07/07/2017
On July 1st, Mom's internal defribillator shocked her 3 times while she was at their cabin. My dad brought her to the nearest hospital in Big Rapids, where they stabilized her and sent her by ambulance to Grand Rapids for care.  The cardiac team at Spectrum say that there is nothing more that can be done to maintain Mom's cardiac health, outside of receiving a transplant as soon as possible. 
The hope is that University of Wisconson is able to finish processing the test results of Mom's last appointment by Tuesday the 11th. At this point, UW is her best shot at transplant.  If UW is ready to move forward with Mom's care, it will require my parent's to relocate to Madison. Obviously, while a relocation is necessary, it is also a huge financial burden on the family while they attempt to pay medical costs as well as new living and moving expenses.
Please keep my Mom and Dad in your thoughts and prayers during this stressful time. 

*My parent's currently selling their two antique cars in an attempt to cover costs:
1971 Dodge Demon ($17,000) and a 1962 Thunderbird ($12,500).
If interested in either vehicle, please contact Don Ferrier via Facebook. 


Update:
On April 24th, Mom was removed from Spectrum's Transplant program. Spectrum felt that Mom's case had become too complex due to high levels of antibodies and her health was too fragile to survive a transplant. They wanted her to become an LVAD to destination instead of an LVAD to transplant. Her only option is to undergo chemo and plasmaphoresis again, however they are unwilling to offer her these treatments. 
Because Mom is such a fighter, she refused to take this news as the end of her transplant journey. After a lot of research, my parents sent Mom's medical records to several hospitals. Despite denials from different programs, we didn't give up. Finally, we received news yesterday that the University of Wisconsin was willing to take Mom on as a patient! She is scheduled for her first appointment with her new transplant team on June 29th. 

While this is awesome news to hear, it comes with a lot of additional financial costs, including several trips to Wisconsin for appointments as well as the cost of lodging and meals while they are there. Thanks to Waves of Hope, my parent's tickets onboard the Lake Express will be covered. 
My parents are continuing to attempt to cover all of their own expenses (including selling their beloved '62 Thunderbird), but I would love to try and help them ease some of the financial burden so they can focus on moving my mom towards her new heart!

As many of you know, my mom, Mary Ferrier, has battled with heart disease for over 14 years. She has underwent many heart procedures, suffered a heart attack only a few days past her 40th birthday, had a pacemaker/defibrillator implanted, endured numerous shocks from her ICD and has had to deal with the daily struggle of life with congestive heart failure.

In February of 2015 at only 49 years old, my mother's health began to rapidly decline. She spent almost the entire month of February hospitalized at Mercy Health in Muskegon and then was moved to the Fred and Lena Heart Meijer Heart Center in Grand Rapids. After a consultation with Dr. Dickinson (the medical director for the Richard DeVos Heart & Lung Transplant Program), it was determined that the only direction for Mom's care was to prepare her for a heart transplant.

Since the decision to have Mom added to the 'transplant list', there has been countless trips to both the University of Michigan and to the Meijer Heart Center for consultations as well as numerous tests in order to evaluate her as a candidate to recieve a donor heart.

For those of you who know my parents personally, you know that they have always been willing to help anyone in need. They are both active in their community and have participated for many years in different projects geared towards raising money for local organizations. My mom has been a nurse for 15 years. She has always found joy in caring for others. My parents have hosted exchange students in their home on several occasions. My father has been a member of the Knights of Columbus #13035 for many years. One of my parent's biggest accomplishments is helping to organize and run the Cars for Cancer Labor Day Car Show which has raised over $200,000 for the Johnson Family Center For Cancer Care in Muskegon in the last 11 years.

I started this fundraiser to help my parents offset the enormous financial burden of my mother's upcoming heart transplant. Because of the severity of her cardiac complications, she has been unable to return to work since February.

Any funds raised through this campaign will go directly towards helping my parents pay for the impending medical bills for mom's heart transplant and required hospitalization as well travel expenses for my dad. While my parents are actively trying to cover the expenses themselves, the transplant itself costs close to $1,000,000. Following the transplant there will be an extended hospital stay for recovery and several months of appointments with specialists. Transplant recipients have a lifetime regimen of extremely expensive anti-rejection medications, some of which have a $1500 monthly copay, even with insurance coverage.

Meanwhile, thank you for ALL your prayers and support during this time. It is greatly appreciated by our family.