Please help me, help my friend Juanita

Hi, My name is Paula Patten and I am raising funds to help one of my closest and most cherished friends, Juanita.

In the last few months, Juanita went from a vibrant, healthy, single mom of her beloved Jojo with hopes and dreams for a future of dancing at his wedding someday and holding her future grandbabies to having to imagine a world where she has to say goodbye in 5 short years or less.

My beautiful friend is terminal and it came out of no where. After a battle with pneumonia and some concerning issues with a ventilator, Juanita has been diagnosed with interstitial lung disease (progressive fibrosis with volume loss and progressive bronchiectasis). She has 5 years (or less) to live.

Right now, it’s about quality of life and that’s what this fundraiser is about. She is being placed on the lung transplant list which will give her some ability to function for her remaining years. Her insurance covers some of it, but there will be a 20% coinsurance cost, as well as mandatory relocation costs close to Duke Medical Center (where she will be receiving the transplant), housing, post transplant medications not covered by insurance and other expenses.

Juanita served her country and is a veteran, as well as an incredible single mom to a remarkable young man who is reeling at the thought of living a life without his devoted mother, a loving sister and my best friend.

Please donate what you can. Every little bit helps.

To read more of Juanita’s story, please see below:

It started with me feeling like I had an elephant sitting on my chest. I went to an urgent care center; X-rays were taken and the doctor stated I had bronchitis. I took all of the prescribed medication but I still did not fell better. I went back to urgent care, and was informed I had pneumonia. I was then admitted and placed on oxygen and given antibiotics. I was deemed fit to be discharged after 3 days. I again took all of the prescribed medication but felt worse than I did upon admission. I thought there was no way my oxygen levels were as low as 48, 49, 51,etc. I felt like I was suffocating and drowning at the same time. I had my 20 year old son put his finger in the pulse oximeter because I was convinced the oximeter was broken. He put in his finger and the reading was 100%. My son strongly encouraged me to go to the ER. I could barely stand. I was admitted instantly. I was given strong antibiotics, had consults with infectious disease, cardiology, pulmonary, & respiratory. After countless labs, X-rays, CT scans, it was confirmed I had pneumonia but not only did I have pneumonia, something else was causing my lungs to not inflate properly.

Fast forward to about 28 days in the hospital, I was to do a walk test (ability to walk to the nurses station on less than 4 liters of oxygen). I attempted to control my breathing but I passed out and became unresponsive. The Rapid Response Team had to revive me and after that I was placed on a BiPap machine. The machine was set to high and I was on that high level for approximately 5 hours. I tried to get someone to come to my room but no luck until it was too late. The exorbitant force of air into my lungs caused an air embolism in my left lower lobe and also subcutaneous pneumothorax in my chest. I called it the “cricklies” because my chest felt like bubble wrap when you pressed upon it. I was eventually given a chest tube which was very painful. The chest tube was eventually removed and the “cricklies” went away but the scarring of my lungs was prevalent.

I was finally released after a total of 47 days.

After an appointment with my pulmonologist and obtaining a high-resolution CT scan, it was confirmed that I have interstitial lung disease (progressive fibrosis with volume loss and progressive bronchiectasis. My doctor stated (with regret) that I will probably not live to see Medicare age. I was devastated as I am only 53. Of course I cried in the office but I sucked it up because the “clock” given to me by my doctor isn’t the final say. God will make that determination.

I am now being referred to Duke Medical Center for a lung transplant. I will start my testing and evaluation January 8th & 9th to kick off the many tests and criteria that I must undertake to qualify to be added to the transplant list.

A lung transplant is one of the hardest transplants to get. Life expectancy after a transplant isn’t that long, but any better quality of life for any amount of time, I will welcome with open arms.

I have never been a smoker, I have never done drugs, vaped, or put myself in any dangerous situations but here I am needing a lung to survive to see my son graduate from college (he is a junior at Wabash College in Indiana). It is a struggle everyday just to walk to the bathroom to take a shower. But I have to do what I have to do to stay strong and fight. I am a competitive person and I won’t go down without a fight.

Thank you so much for any help you can give.

With love,

Juanita