Lung Transplant for Martha

Martha Ochoa is a loving and incredibly generous 46 year old mother of three. She is in desperate need of a lung transplant and after many years of waiting she finally has her chance, but she needs our help. For those that don’t know her, it all started about 13 years ago when Martha was misdiagnosed with cancer after the doctor found masses on her lungs. However, after getting a second opinion and various tests, they realized she actually had an extremely rare condition called Sarcoidosis. It is so rare in fact, that there are less than 200,000 reported cases in the entire United States. This disease has slowly taken away Martha’s ability to do all of the things she once loved, but also her ability to perform normal day to day activities. She can’t sing her heart out to her favorite song, or just walk down the hall to the bathroom without becoming so out of breath that she needs her oxygen machine.  Devastatingly, she even missed out on her dream of dancing with her daughter on her Quinceanera.  This disease has not only caused Martha emotional heartbreak from having these basic pleasures of life taken away, but also physical pain when her lungs collapsed 10 times causing her to have life threatening surgery four times. Words can’t describe the pain Martha had to endure from these things, but thankfully she is a fighter and she was finally put on the waitlist for a lung transplant. This has given her hope of one day going back to the semi-normal life that she has been dreaming of. Unfortunately, this surgery can only be done in San Francisco, California, and because it is so dangerous it would require Martha to stay in San Francisco for at least a month to be near the hospital in case she has any complications. This is why Martha needs our help. She is a single mother who had to quit her job due to her condition, and only survives from her very small disability income. We are asking for donations to help pay for the ridiculously expensive living expenses for her one month recovery stay in San Francisco, as well as medical costs. I know times are hard for everyone during this pandemic right now, but Martha would be so grateful for any amount donated. Let’s help Martha be able to enjoy life again !