Help Karolyn with Lung Transplant Expenses
Donation protected
Update***
A Bilateral Lung transplant was performed successfully on 7/28/2023 and today 8/10/2023 I remain hospitalized at Loyola as a part of the extensive recovery for the next few months.
I remain on unpaid leave and solicit your help with medical expenses and mounting monthly bills as I continue healing physically and spiritually. Thank you for your love, support and encouragement.
I am Karolyn; a mother, daughter, sister and friend. Not in a million years did I think I would need to come to this platform to ask for financial assistance. In 2016, I began to fall ill, experiencing symptoms of shortness of breath and fatigue. Local doctors could not determine the problem nor a reason for my troubles only that my lungs were scarring and I had months to live if I did not received a transplant.
This journey led me to Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota, who was able to render a diagnosis of Myositis, an Autoimmune disease. This disease caused my body to attack my lungs, causing the irreversible scarring and an interstitial lung disease. The symptoms of the disease cause me to have shortness of breath, severe fatigue, joint pain and muscle weakness. By the grace of God, I have survived 6 years with maintenance from my Rheumatology and Pulmonary teams. Numerous doctors, specialists, and hospital visits are my new normal and my day-to-day overall health is very inconsistent. No two days look alike. I have many days where all I can do is rest. With this disease, it takes an increased amount of energy and a lot of oxygen just to breathe.
At this time, my doctors continue to search for treatments that will provide me with a better quality of life, however, after many flare ups, Covid infections, pneumonia and couple of heart attacks I am currently an inpatient at awaiting a double lung transplant at Loyola Hospital. I have always prayed for and donated to the needs of loved ones, as well as strangers. I now find myself in need of the same generosity I have extended over the years. I have very high deductible insurance and my current job does not offer short term disability so I will be out of work unpaid for a while recovering and will need to maintain rent, health insurance, medications, medical bills, amongst other things.
Unfortunately as a 38 year old mother of three children this is not something that you plan to budget. Nothing can prepare you for a life changing event of this magnitude.
I solicit your help in this time of great need. I share my journey (and I hope you will too) in hopes that it may help, inspire, or even convince others to consider becoming an organ donor in general.
A million thank you’s in advance for your kindness and generosity. My faith is strong I surely believe that “He who has began a good work in me will carry it on to completion” Philippians 1:6 I am a living testimony! May God continue to richly bless you and refresh you, as you refresh others!
A Bilateral Lung transplant was performed successfully on 7/28/2023 and today 8/10/2023 I remain hospitalized at Loyola as a part of the extensive recovery for the next few months.
I remain on unpaid leave and solicit your help with medical expenses and mounting monthly bills as I continue healing physically and spiritually. Thank you for your love, support and encouragement.
I am Karolyn; a mother, daughter, sister and friend. Not in a million years did I think I would need to come to this platform to ask for financial assistance. In 2016, I began to fall ill, experiencing symptoms of shortness of breath and fatigue. Local doctors could not determine the problem nor a reason for my troubles only that my lungs were scarring and I had months to live if I did not received a transplant.
This journey led me to Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota, who was able to render a diagnosis of Myositis, an Autoimmune disease. This disease caused my body to attack my lungs, causing the irreversible scarring and an interstitial lung disease. The symptoms of the disease cause me to have shortness of breath, severe fatigue, joint pain and muscle weakness. By the grace of God, I have survived 6 years with maintenance from my Rheumatology and Pulmonary teams. Numerous doctors, specialists, and hospital visits are my new normal and my day-to-day overall health is very inconsistent. No two days look alike. I have many days where all I can do is rest. With this disease, it takes an increased amount of energy and a lot of oxygen just to breathe.
At this time, my doctors continue to search for treatments that will provide me with a better quality of life, however, after many flare ups, Covid infections, pneumonia and couple of heart attacks I am currently an inpatient at awaiting a double lung transplant at Loyola Hospital. I have always prayed for and donated to the needs of loved ones, as well as strangers. I now find myself in need of the same generosity I have extended over the years. I have very high deductible insurance and my current job does not offer short term disability so I will be out of work unpaid for a while recovering and will need to maintain rent, health insurance, medications, medical bills, amongst other things.
Unfortunately as a 38 year old mother of three children this is not something that you plan to budget. Nothing can prepare you for a life changing event of this magnitude.
I solicit your help in this time of great need. I share my journey (and I hope you will too) in hopes that it may help, inspire, or even convince others to consider becoming an organ donor in general.
A million thank you’s in advance for your kindness and generosity. My faith is strong I surely believe that “He who has began a good work in me will carry it on to completion” Philippians 1:6 I am a living testimony! May God continue to richly bless you and refresh you, as you refresh others!
Organizer
Karolyn Arnold
Organizer
Maywood, IL