Help Jacquelyn in her Recovery

Hello potential donor:

 

My mom and I (Mariah), are choosing to raise money for my grandmother, Jackie Roshto, after she suffered a major complication in a recent surgery. My nana (Jackie) lived for 75 years without being told that she had an entire cusp missing in her tricuspid valve inside of her heart. The weaknesses in her cardiovascular system had other effects, making major vessels weakened, including her aorta, which developed two large aneurysms (expansions in the vessel wall), which needed to be corrected or else risked rupture. A ruptured aorta would have been fatal.

 

After a few months' recovery from her heart surgery, she went under for her aneurysm repairs. While under anesthesia, the artery running into her kidney ruptured and the surgeon saved her life by cutting off the blood supply to her kidneys. Though her life was saved (albeit sustaining a lot of blood loss and needing multiple blood transfusions post-operatively), she lost the use of her kidneys, and now needs dialysis three times a week.

 

This is producing a lot of constraint on my nana for a few reasons. She lives in an area with severely reduced access to healthcare (the closest dialysis center is 54 minutes away from their home), and is financially constrained. The best hope she has for a long and happy life is a kidney transplant, but to qualify for the transplant, she needs to have several appointments at a center in southern Maine (6 hours 16 min round-trip). These trips are long and hard on someone who has endured several surgeries and expensive, as insurance will not cover any travel or lodging expenses. These trips are required to qualify for a new kidney, and without one, her life will continue to be labored with dialysis treatments which only work for a few years.

 

So, how can you make a difference in my nana's life? If you donate, you will be helping a woman who is so incredibly kind continue to do good in this world. She has spent her whole life trying to help others. When she was in the military, she spent her days nursing people with mental health challenges. Then for years, she worked as head custodian at a high school. In her golden years, she has been a rock in her family and helped me, a current dual-degree student in veterinary school and a Masters in Public Health program, continue to find inspiration every day and "continue marching forward." She is one of my closest and best friends.

 

Please donate to help my nana continue living in this world. Every day she is here with us, she makes the world that much better.

 

Sincerely,

Mariah + her mom, Michele