11 years after her diagnosis with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF, Patty has finally ready for her double lung transplant. IPF is a progressive, incurable lung disease that, if left untreated, always results in death. The "idiopathic" part means the doctors have no idea how she got it in the first place. She was prescribed Esbriet early on, a nasty drug that took her many months to get acclimated to, with a lot of vomiting and overall horrible side effects, but she did get used to it and it has slowed down the progression of the disease at 10k per month. Since that time, the generic version called perfenidone has been substituted. However, the gradual decline has finally reached a point to where the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix has told her she is now a good candidate for transplant.

However, Mayo, St. Joseph's in Phoenix, Banner in Tucson and The University of Washington Medical Center have all denied her the transplant over...the covid shot. Mayo Clinic denied her just 1 month ago as of this writing.

It's been a long, hard frustrating battle but, to the rescue comes UT Southwestern in Dallas, Texas. They do not require the jab for transplant.

We now have to pack up and move to Dallas from southern Arizona as the hospital requires us to live in an area that is a short distance from their location. There will be a minimum of 3-6 months of intense follow-up after the surgery, and we just completed two weeks of evalution for her transplant, and we are now waiting for her listing on UNOS, the United Network of Organ Sharing.

Once listed, it could happen within days or it could take months to be offered suitable lungs. The new lungs have to be nearly equal in size, they must have the same blood type, antibodies factor in... a number of thhings are considered.

So it looks like perhaps a year in the Dallas area.

We are asking for help to relocate, for re-homing, travel and future medical expenses, fuel food, prescriptions, etc. to maintain a suitable place to live in the Dallas area. The cost of the surgery approaches 1 million dollars. The cost of moving to Dallas is at least 5k which we will need almost immediately. While insurance covers a great deal of the million dollar cost, it doesn't cover it all. Her fiance Chris can't leave the house to work, his job is to be her caregiver, so that limits our ability to cover monthly bills ourselves.

This has been an incredibly difficult 11 years, and the journey is about to reach a new phase. The doctors have made it clear that we are trading one set of problems for another...she will be on anti-rejection drugs the rest of her life.

However, she'll be able to breathe without dragging oxygen with her everywhere she goes.

We are looking forward to that.

Thank you for any help you can provide, and please share this with everyone on your social media groups, texts and email lists.

We will be forever grateful.