News and Updates

May 23, 2008: Alliance News

May 14, 2008: Fort Worth Star-Telegram

May 10, 2008: CBS11TV - click here

April 30, 2008: by Sherry's daughter Michele:

My mother was diagnosed with a rare auto-immune disease, Scleroderma, complicated by CREST. She is was an active, healthy, spirited lady that became critically ill around Jully 2006. My mother became dependant on oxygen 24/7. We lost my father to Prostate cancer in Jan. of 2004. My mother is now fighting for her life a second time. She became very ill and was admitted into UCSF Medical Center on March 6, 2008 where she remains. My mother was placed on life support on March 19 and we were faced with some very difficult choices. She needed a LUNG Transplant and approximately 18 people die a day waiting for an organ. My mother's body was failing and she was suffering a temperature that she just couldn't get rid of. I sat vigil by her bed, talking to her and playing her sweet little grand-daughters voices in her ear over and over. I really believed that we were going to have to say good bye. I am her only child and after already loosing my dad, I feared for more devastation to myself and family. On March 26, a miracle happened! The hospital found a match, a new set of lungs. My mother was given only a 2% chance of surviving, due to the Scleroderma lungs. About 4 hours into the surgery the OR nurse called up and told us she was losing too much blood and we needed to prepare ourselves. Again, we thought we lost her. About 12 hours of surgery by a incredibly gifted team, she was somewhat stabilized. My mother lost 22 units of blood and they could not actually put her lungs in her chest and close her up. After a LONG night of wait and see, she was closed up and given a second chance. It has been a roller coaster ride for her and it is going to be a LONG recovery, but she is holding her own. She is still in ICU at UCSF. Her family and friends are doing fundraising to help offset the expenses related to post transplant. My girls call my mother TUTU. May your lives be filled with love and laughter. AMEN

HASLET, Texas. April 21, 2008 – For the first time in 18 months, Sherry Hagerman can breathe without being connected to an oxygen tank. She now breathes with a new set of lungs.

Hagerman, 58, received a double lung transplant in March, just days after Easter. She suffers from scleroderma, a rare autoimmune disease that attacks the body’s tissues, causing them to harden. In Hagerman’s case, the disease hardened her lungs, reducing her ability to breathe.

The disease led to other health problems, including pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, Raynaud’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and the heart attack that ultimately led to her transplant.

Thanks to an organ donor, Hagerman received her double lung transplant March 26 at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. She currently remains in intensive care, where she has been for the past month. Doctors say she is doing well and hope to release her soon. She must reside in San Francisco for at least eight weeks and then in the San Francisco Bay area for another six months before she can return to Texas with her daughter.

“We are so grateful that she was given this second chance at life,” said Michele Lain, Hagerman’s daughter. “The doctors told us she had only a 2 percent chance of survival, but she is determined and spirited, and we knew if anyone could make it, she could.”

A double lung transplant costs approximately $500,000. Fortunately, Hagerman’s insurance covered the procedure itself, but her additional out-of-pocket costs are extensive. After her husband died in 2004, Hagerman was unable to secure health insurance because of her pre-existing conditions. For four years, she and her family paid out-of-pocket for medical expenses, until she became eligible for disability from Medicare.

Hagerman will need a lifetime of follow-up care and daily medications to prevent her body from rejecting the new lungs. One of these lifelong medications will cost $1,800 a month and is uncovered by insurance. Another uncovered prescription will cost $2,800 a month, and she will need this medication for at least three months. These medications are as critical to her survival as the transplant itself.

Other costs include travel, lodging and meals for the eight months she must stay in San Francisco.

To overcome these financial challenges, Hagerman turned to the National Foundation for Transplants (NFT) for assistance. NFT is a non-profit organization which helps transplant patients raise funds to pay for transplant-related expenses. During the next several months, local volunteers will host fundraising events in the Haslet area to benefit Hagerman, including a bass tournament May 31.

The “Tutu” Charity Bass Tournament will take place at Lake Grapevine Meadowmere Park from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. May 31. If water levels are too high, officials at Meadowmere will direct participants to Katie’s Woods for an alternate location.

The requested donation to participate is $50 for an individual or team, and additional donations are encouraged. The family-friendly event will include an auction, and food and beverages will be available. The City of Grapevine will donate all entry and boat launch fees to NFT, so participants should inform the gate attendant they are attending the fundraiser. Prizes will be awarded to winners, and door prizes also will be awarded to participants. Event supporters include the City of Grapevine, Texas.

Funds raised will enable NFT to assist Hagerman with her out-of-pocket transplant-related expenses, including travel and lodging expenses. For additional information about the tournament, please call Melanie Thornton at 214-335-7655 or e-mail Melanie@tutubenefit.com

Other upcoming events include a pancake breakfast, a garage sale in late May and an Oscar party over Memorial Day weekend.

“Every day, we work with patients like Sherry,” said Kay Horne, Hagerman’s NFT fundraising consultant. “Of course we’re thrilled she received her new lungs, but it’s heartbreaking to see a patient who has received a life-saving transplant, only to struggle financially to pay for critical anti-rejection medications.”

To make a donation in honor of Hagerman, please mail a tax-deductible donation to the National Foundation for Transplants – Texas Double Lung Fund to P.O. Box 344, Haslet, TX 76052. Secure donations also can be made online at www.transplants.org. Donors should click on “Patients We Help” to locate Hagerman.

Anyone interested in volunteering or learning more about local upcoming events should contact us here.

About NFT

NFT is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization based in Memphis, Tenn., which has been helping transplant patients overcome financial obstacles since 1983. NFT provides fundraising expertise and advocacy to transplant patients by organizing fundraising campaigns in the patients’ own communities. NFT currently assists more than 700 transplant candidates and recipients nationwide. For more information about NFT, please call 800-489-3863 or visit www.transplants.org