Transplant Add'l Medical Costs
I am being selected to receive a larynx by transplant within the next year. It will improve my quality of life 100 fold! I had my larynx removed is 2002 due to throat cancer and have a limited life ever since that event.
Even though I am a 100% service-connected disabled Veteran, the VA and the VA's Choice Care Program will NOT pay for anything involving a Clinical Trial OR Clinical Research Study. A very small amount will be covered by this clinical research study. BUT, there will still be a lot of other expenses not covered. We hope you can find it in your heart to donate!
The change in the quality of my life is going to be tremendous! So many things that most people take for granted I will be able to able to do again! I will be able to speak once again with an actual voice instead of a fake, quiet, and hoarse "voice", AND, I will be able to sing again... or go fishing in a boat...or go swimming again!!! I will be able to function so much better as a Firefighter/Paramedic, Instructor, and care giver as well. It is extremely limiting for me to speak with any volume so it has a huge negative impact on my fulfilling the role as a Firefighter/Paramedic. My life will change immensely after this procedure is done!
My volume of speech creates challenges for me, the patients I care for, and other first responders I volunteer with. I will be able to work in loud environments as a Firefighter/Paramedic as I will actually have a voice volume that I can control. This program will be spread out with a lot of travel between our home in Idaho and the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona.
And, no more having to go to the VA, a 4 hour round trip, every 2-3 months to go through prosthesis change-outs any more! The prosthesis I have now only lasts a few months and must be changed out frequently. When it fails it allows leakage of fluid into my airway causing me to cough severely to clear the liquid out. It can be brutal. Just imagine the feeling of drowning every time it leaks into my airway.
I have a stoma in my neck with an indwelling prosthesis to allow me to have a "voice" but it is very difficult for many to understand me. I must also be very careful when showering or bathing as water in my airway can actually cause me to drown, and there is always leakage of water into my airway while showering or bathing.
After all the medical exams and testing are done, and I am on the organ list, we will have to travel to Arizona, and stay within 4 hours of Phoenix for an undetermined time until an organ is available (not as difficult as it sounds as its not like a heart or lungs, etc). Because of the air quality we will have to live outside the Phoenix Valley because of my COPD.
Like any transplant, we only have a short window of the time from harvesting and transplanting. Then, after the transplant, we will still have to stay close to the Mayo Clinic for 3 to 6 months to ensure that the transplant takes.
We hope and pray that your generosity will allow us to improve a quality of life I have not known for 16 years! Thank you and we would most certainly appreciate any prayers you may offer on our behalf.
Even though I am a 100% service-connected disabled Veteran, the VA and the VA's Choice Care Program will NOT pay for anything involving a Clinical Trial OR Clinical Research Study. A very small amount will be covered by this clinical research study. BUT, there will still be a lot of other expenses not covered. We hope you can find it in your heart to donate!
The change in the quality of my life is going to be tremendous! So many things that most people take for granted I will be able to able to do again! I will be able to speak once again with an actual voice instead of a fake, quiet, and hoarse "voice", AND, I will be able to sing again... or go fishing in a boat...or go swimming again!!! I will be able to function so much better as a Firefighter/Paramedic, Instructor, and care giver as well. It is extremely limiting for me to speak with any volume so it has a huge negative impact on my fulfilling the role as a Firefighter/Paramedic. My life will change immensely after this procedure is done!
My volume of speech creates challenges for me, the patients I care for, and other first responders I volunteer with. I will be able to work in loud environments as a Firefighter/Paramedic as I will actually have a voice volume that I can control. This program will be spread out with a lot of travel between our home in Idaho and the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona.
And, no more having to go to the VA, a 4 hour round trip, every 2-3 months to go through prosthesis change-outs any more! The prosthesis I have now only lasts a few months and must be changed out frequently. When it fails it allows leakage of fluid into my airway causing me to cough severely to clear the liquid out. It can be brutal. Just imagine the feeling of drowning every time it leaks into my airway.
I have a stoma in my neck with an indwelling prosthesis to allow me to have a "voice" but it is very difficult for many to understand me. I must also be very careful when showering or bathing as water in my airway can actually cause me to drown, and there is always leakage of water into my airway while showering or bathing.
After all the medical exams and testing are done, and I am on the organ list, we will have to travel to Arizona, and stay within 4 hours of Phoenix for an undetermined time until an organ is available (not as difficult as it sounds as its not like a heart or lungs, etc). Because of the air quality we will have to live outside the Phoenix Valley because of my COPD.
Like any transplant, we only have a short window of the time from harvesting and transplanting. Then, after the transplant, we will still have to stay close to the Mayo Clinic for 3 to 6 months to ensure that the transplant takes.
We hope and pray that your generosity will allow us to improve a quality of life I have not known for 16 years! Thank you and we would most certainly appreciate any prayers you may offer on our behalf.