Help Asya Get a Small Bowel Transplant
Donation protected
My entire life changed the night of March 22, 2019. It began with stomach discomfort that soon turned into excruciating stomach pains where I had to be taken to the Emergency Room. While in the ER I soon became unresponsive and coded for 20 minutes but they were able to bring me back.
By the time my mom got to San Antonio, TX I had coded twice and been brought back (by God’s grace). Two surgeries later nearly all of my small intestine had been damaged. We were informed that I wouldn’t survive and that at the rate my body was declining that I would probably pass within the week. But my mother was not ready to let me go and she fought for me and asked them to check again to see if any of my small intestine was salvageable. But after the exploratory surgery the doctors came back and said nothing else could be done. My mother was told that it was time to notify family and friends to say our final goodbyes. Once all my family and friends that could be there arrived the doctors removed the NG tube from my throat so I could speak to my family one last time. Because I couldn’t breathe on my own the doctors expected me to pass within a few hours.
But as the hours passed by and all the phone calls from family and friends kept coming in, I was still hanging on. Prayer surely does change things!
And then another day passed and my mother called a meeting with the doctors and said “Why are we sitting around waiting for her to die? She’s breathing on her own and her kidneys and liver are not failing. And my daughter wants to live. My mother said she felt like her back was against a wall and we were running out of time. So she started researching and found out that small bowel transplants were being done here in the US. So she went to the doctors and started asking if I could receive a small bowel transplant, and their first response was that they didn’t believe that in my condition I would be able to survive a transplant. But my mother was not taking no for an answer. That’s the definition of “A Mother’s Love”.
So my mother wanted to know what they could do to buy me some time until I was well enough to receive a transplant. It broke her heart when they told her that nothing could be done and that they never encountered something like my case ever. If anyone knows my mother then they know that she has a hard time hearing “No.” So she said, “we are living in the era of modern medicine. Every surgery that has ever been performed started with the “First Patient.” There must be something innovative that could be done here. She told the doctors, “My daughter told me she doesn’t want to die and she expects me to make that happen.”
The next day to everyone’s surprise one of the surgeons had been on the phone all night and morning with the small bowel specialists in Omaha, Nebraska. This team in Omaha was able to come up with plan that could buy me some more time until I was able to get a small bowel transplant. So the doctors proposed this last surgery that could potentially buy me some time to allow my body to recover before attempting the small bowl transplant. But the surgery came with some real risks. My quality of life would not be the same. I would have to spend months in the hospital. But I remember the doctor asking me if I was sure I wanted to do this? He asked me why do you want to live?
I told him, “ I was only 26 years-old and too young to die. I told him I had moved all the way to San Antonio, TX from Charlotte, NC so that I could further my teaching career. I told him that I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I wanted to teach. I truly cared about my students and I wanted to be an important influence in their lives. I said I’m an older sister and I didn’t want to leave my siblings behind. And I told them that I didn’t want to leave my family behind because we all had just suffered the loss of my grandmother (only 5 months prior to this ordeal) from the devastating disease of ALS.
So what’s my current status? My stomach is connected to my colon. I no longer have a small bowel or pancreas. My kidneys are not 100% and I have some damage to my liver. All of this will most likely require me to have a multiple-transplant operation.
Without my small bowel, I can no longer eat or drink by mouth. I receive my nutrition intravenously by a drug called TPN. So I am what you would call TPN dependent, I wouldn’t be able to live without it. I am also a Type 1 diabetic because I no longer have a pancreas. The goal is to get me well enough so that I can be a candidate for a multiple organ transplant. Which I hear that less than five have have been performed in the US.
As you can imagine medical expenses will be astronomical for me and Insurance doesn’t cover everything. I have now been hospitalized for nearly 6 months. My situation is so rare and unique that it requires so much more care than other patients. Because small bowel transplants are not performed in the state of Texas eventually I will have to be transported to a state that could perform this surgery.
I just want to take this time to thank my mother who uprooted herself and my younger sister to be here for me in San Antonio. She gave up her life in Charlotte, NC to guide me through the most difficult time of my life. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here to tell my story. Although I have made great strides, I still have a long road ahead. My journey will be long and filled with many setbacks. But I’m determined to be a proud recipient of the transplants that I need. Everyone says that I’m a miracle. My aunt told me that a miracle is when God bends the laws of nature in an intimate way for you. So I’m humbled that God used me to show others that through Him “all things are possible”. I intend on taking this second chance to make a difference in the lives of others (especially my students) and take advantage of this amazing opportunity to restart my life. A lot of people in my situation wouldn’t get this opportunity. So I’m not going to waste it.
Finally, I can’t do this alone. If you are able, I am asking for donations that would go towards my medical expenses, relocation expenses, and medical transport expenses. Your donation will literally have the BIGGEST impact on the trajectory of my life. Thank you and God bless us all.
By the time my mom got to San Antonio, TX I had coded twice and been brought back (by God’s grace). Two surgeries later nearly all of my small intestine had been damaged. We were informed that I wouldn’t survive and that at the rate my body was declining that I would probably pass within the week. But my mother was not ready to let me go and she fought for me and asked them to check again to see if any of my small intestine was salvageable. But after the exploratory surgery the doctors came back and said nothing else could be done. My mother was told that it was time to notify family and friends to say our final goodbyes. Once all my family and friends that could be there arrived the doctors removed the NG tube from my throat so I could speak to my family one last time. Because I couldn’t breathe on my own the doctors expected me to pass within a few hours.
But as the hours passed by and all the phone calls from family and friends kept coming in, I was still hanging on. Prayer surely does change things!
And then another day passed and my mother called a meeting with the doctors and said “Why are we sitting around waiting for her to die? She’s breathing on her own and her kidneys and liver are not failing. And my daughter wants to live. My mother said she felt like her back was against a wall and we were running out of time. So she started researching and found out that small bowel transplants were being done here in the US. So she went to the doctors and started asking if I could receive a small bowel transplant, and their first response was that they didn’t believe that in my condition I would be able to survive a transplant. But my mother was not taking no for an answer. That’s the definition of “A Mother’s Love”.
So my mother wanted to know what they could do to buy me some time until I was well enough to receive a transplant. It broke her heart when they told her that nothing could be done and that they never encountered something like my case ever. If anyone knows my mother then they know that she has a hard time hearing “No.” So she said, “we are living in the era of modern medicine. Every surgery that has ever been performed started with the “First Patient.” There must be something innovative that could be done here. She told the doctors, “My daughter told me she doesn’t want to die and she expects me to make that happen.”
The next day to everyone’s surprise one of the surgeons had been on the phone all night and morning with the small bowel specialists in Omaha, Nebraska. This team in Omaha was able to come up with plan that could buy me some more time until I was able to get a small bowel transplant. So the doctors proposed this last surgery that could potentially buy me some time to allow my body to recover before attempting the small bowl transplant. But the surgery came with some real risks. My quality of life would not be the same. I would have to spend months in the hospital. But I remember the doctor asking me if I was sure I wanted to do this? He asked me why do you want to live?
I told him, “ I was only 26 years-old and too young to die. I told him I had moved all the way to San Antonio, TX from Charlotte, NC so that I could further my teaching career. I told him that I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I wanted to teach. I truly cared about my students and I wanted to be an important influence in their lives. I said I’m an older sister and I didn’t want to leave my siblings behind. And I told them that I didn’t want to leave my family behind because we all had just suffered the loss of my grandmother (only 5 months prior to this ordeal) from the devastating disease of ALS.
So what’s my current status? My stomach is connected to my colon. I no longer have a small bowel or pancreas. My kidneys are not 100% and I have some damage to my liver. All of this will most likely require me to have a multiple-transplant operation.
Without my small bowel, I can no longer eat or drink by mouth. I receive my nutrition intravenously by a drug called TPN. So I am what you would call TPN dependent, I wouldn’t be able to live without it. I am also a Type 1 diabetic because I no longer have a pancreas. The goal is to get me well enough so that I can be a candidate for a multiple organ transplant. Which I hear that less than five have have been performed in the US.
As you can imagine medical expenses will be astronomical for me and Insurance doesn’t cover everything. I have now been hospitalized for nearly 6 months. My situation is so rare and unique that it requires so much more care than other patients. Because small bowel transplants are not performed in the state of Texas eventually I will have to be transported to a state that could perform this surgery.
I just want to take this time to thank my mother who uprooted herself and my younger sister to be here for me in San Antonio. She gave up her life in Charlotte, NC to guide me through the most difficult time of my life. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here to tell my story. Although I have made great strides, I still have a long road ahead. My journey will be long and filled with many setbacks. But I’m determined to be a proud recipient of the transplants that I need. Everyone says that I’m a miracle. My aunt told me that a miracle is when God bends the laws of nature in an intimate way for you. So I’m humbled that God used me to show others that through Him “all things are possible”. I intend on taking this second chance to make a difference in the lives of others (especially my students) and take advantage of this amazing opportunity to restart my life. A lot of people in my situation wouldn’t get this opportunity. So I’m not going to waste it.
Finally, I can’t do this alone. If you are able, I am asking for donations that would go towards my medical expenses, relocation expenses, and medical transport expenses. Your donation will literally have the BIGGEST impact on the trajectory of my life. Thank you and God bless us all.
Organizer
Anika Malone
Organizer
San Antonio, TX
