Clara Baxter's Liver Transplant
This fund raising effort is to help offset the medical bills, lifelong medications, travel expenses and living expenses that are occurring in order to get Clara a liver transplant. I am Sierra, one of her five siblings and here is her story.
Clara Baxter is a mother, wife, sister, daughter, aunt and friend to many in our small community. In 2009 she was diagnosed with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). NAFLD causes the liver to swell (steatohepatitis). The swollen liver has caused scarring (cirrhosis) over time and this has led to liver failure.
Clara has been a member of the Sea Level Fire and Rescue squad for seventeen years as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Volunteer Firefighter. She has selflessly volunteered countless hours in the community taking care of others during their time of need. This career was a calling for Clara and she completed this calling with a passion. Unfortunately due to the progression of her disease and her declining health Clara had no choice but to retire early from her calling which completely devastated her. Clara is still an active board member for this vital support system in the Down East community. 
After seven years of attempting to manage her liver disease with medications, unfortunately, they are no longer working. At this point Clara continues to be hospitalized repeatedly with fluid buildup in her abdomen and lungs leading to the inability to breathe properly and most recently suffered a partial collapsed lung. The only thing to treat her chronic, life-threatening liver disease at this point is a liver transplant. She has an amazing Hepatologist at UNC Chapel Hill who expedited the painful and lengthy process of being approved for a liver transplant. After months of tests and trips to the UNC hospital we were excited and thankful to get the word on June 1st that Clara has officially been added to the liver transplant list.
Our family has reached out to our friends and loved ones with this campaign because the expenses that have already occurred are overwhelming and we are just beginning this journey. The cost of the liver transplant itself along with the required anti-rejection medications will be well over $1,000 per month after insurance coverage. There have already been numerous trips and hospitalizations made to UNC Chapel Hill for multiple days of testing as well as some in-patient stays to get her stabilized enough to come back home. She recently had her 5th hospitalization at Carteret Health Care for fluid buildup in her lungs. When Clara is in the hospital her husband Johnnie takes time off of work to travel with her and be by her side which also takes a toll on their finances. This is a huge obstacle in addition to the other costs that are associated with Clara’s disease treatment. These non-medical costs include food, lodging, long distance phone calls to family from Durham, transportation to and from Durham, and lost wages.
Clara has touched so many lives during her time on this earth and this disease has completely changed her life and our family. She has lost a lot of her independence and is unable to participate in the activities that she loves. With a new liver Clara will be able to be that same person she was before becoming sick, only better! The new Clara will be living because someone special gave her the gift of life through their choice to be an organ donor. My sister is not ready to give up and neither are we! Please help support us on this journey of healing. We know that all things are possible with God!
