Hello, everyone! This is Jade Valentine and Amber White, writing to you today on behalf of our mother, Chasity Valentine. We want to use this space to continue sharing updates along the way as we navigate her journey in fighting cirrhosis, getting a liver transplant through surgery, and conquering her battle with breast cancer. For those of you who may not have heard or been here from the beginning, let me start by sharing how we got here. In 2024, our mother began experiencing unusual medical symptoms that created some small causes for concern related to her stomach which led her to schedule an appointment with her GI doctor. At the time of her appointment, her GI doctor ran a series of tests including an EGD scope, a colonoscopy, and imaging testing to have a further look. Once the results of the tests came back, she was informed that abnormalities had been spotted on her liver and she was then referred to a Hepatologist at Vanderbilt in Nashville, TN. Shortly following in June of 2024, Chasity had her 1st appointment scheduled with Vanderbilt to get further answers about what abnormalities had been found by her GI. Additional tests were taken to determine what exactly had been found prior. Unfortunately, the results that arose from the additional testing provided an insight that she never could have prepared for. Our mother was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver that was found to be linked to a previous diagnosis she had received many years before. At age 24, Chasity was diagnosed with a genetic disease of the liver (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) that continued to lay dormant without any associated issues arising up until nearly twenty-two years later. While processing her sudden diagnosis, she and the hepatologist discussed steps that would need to take place for her to protect her compromised liver. Many lifestyle and dietary changes were made, and Chasity received those changes openly as she understood the significance of her diagnosis. Throughout the following months, she continued to follow the advice of the doctor. Together, they worked to mitigate some of the symptoms she had previously experienced. She continued to do incredibly well throughout this period! However, in November of 2024, Chasity underwent a previously scheduled surgery and shortly after she began experiencing the more severe side effects related to cirrhosis. It is now believed that some of the medication provided at the time of the surgery worsened the state of her liver and kick-started a rapid decrease in its function. As our mother’s condition began rapidly worsening, her doctors began working quickly to help treat the onslaught of symptoms she was experiencing. Suddenly, she was experiencing episodes of Hepatic Encephalopathy (H.E.). For those unfamiliar, H.E. is a nervous system disorder that results from when a damaged liver no longer filters toxins from the blood leading to the toxins traveling to the brain and affecting brain function. The side effects of H.E. severely impact neurological ability and range from forgetfulness, confusion, tremors, disorientation, slurred speech, changes in memory and concentration, extreme drowsiness, coma, brain injury, and can lead to death. During this time, she also began having severe difficulty with ascites. Ascites are a buildup of fluids within the abdomen that may require a “paracentesis” draining procedure for fluid removal to prevent possible complications. With Chasity beginning to experience these two side effects of cirrhosis, her doctors at Vanderbilt also began the evaluation process of having her placed on the national liver transplant list as both symptoms are key indicators of end-stage liver disease. Together, united as a family and a team, we have raced to meet each of the mandatory evaluation requirements provided by Vanderbilt for her to gain board approval to be added to the national liver transplant list. To be placed on the waitlist, you must meet all criteria given before you gain approval from the hospital board. Gaining approval for our mother has been a grueling process as Vanderbilt’s criteria have required her to have fully updated medical records in all regards. To achieve this, she has had an incalculable number of doctors' office visits, testing/labs, and evaluation processes at facilities located between Knoxville, TN. and Nashville, TN. to meet the set of criteria for the Vanderbilt transplant eligibility evaluation process. As Chasity was approaching the last two pieces of criteria prior to her case being presented to the board for approval, she only needed to receive her COVID booster shots and submit the results from her yearly mammogram to her doctors at Vanderbilt as they were included in her list of required updated records. It was in May of this year that the results of her yearly, routine mammogram came back with unexpected, devastating results. When the initial results came back for her mammogram, there were concerns about what was shown in the scan of her right breast. Due to the concern, her doctor opted to have a biopsy sent to a Pathologist for further study. Shortly after, our mother was heartbreakingly diagnosed with DCIS breast cancer. Although the prognosis of this cancer type is the very best of what could have been a worst-case scenario, the diagnosis of her cancer resulted in an immediate halt in the process of her gaining approval for the transplantation waitlist as it resulted in her being placed in a “deferral status” until the breast cancer could be removed via a mastectomy. A few short days later, our mother had a surgery scheduled for June 6th, 2024, in Knoxville, TN. where she would have had a double mastectomy to remove the breast cancer and to prevent any future breast cancer concerns from arising in her unaffected breast. Unfortunately, just 4 days shy of her surgery, the anesthesiologist team scheduled for her surgery had the surgery canceled. The local anesthesiologists had concerns regarding the risks that could be associated with her undergoing anesthesia due to potential complications that could occur due to her liver disease. This news was incredibly devastating as we all knew it meant prolonging the amount of time it would take for her to receive the transplant eligibility approval still needed that would ultimately save her life. Since the surgery had been canceled locally, our mom was then referred to the oncologist and anesthesiologist at Vanderbilt to review her options. Leading up to her scheduled appointment with Vanderbilt to discuss further options with their cancer team, our mom was unexpectedly hospitalized. This most recent hospital stay consisted of her being admitted for 20 days. Since the beginning, Chasity has encountered severe complications due to ascites that originally started in her abdomen and over time spread to her chest cavity. During this hospital stay, she had a semi-permanent drain tube inserted into her chest cavity to assist with draining fluids from her chest and lungs to help her to breathe and to prevent her lungs from becoming filled with fluid. The fluids accumulated at an accelerated rate, and that resulted in the doctors working even quicker to drain the fluid away to keep her safe. However, the speed at which the fluids needed to be drained from her chest cavity led to her sustaining an acute kidney injury as her kidneys could not keep up with the rate her body was losing fluids and the important nutrients that assist in stabilizing kidney levels. This stay had been unimaginably difficult, but toward the end of the 20 days she was there, her body was able to rebound and the buildup of fluids within her chest slowed to a much more manageable rate. Working closely with her doctors in our local hospital and the doctors at Vanderbilt, we were able to have our mother discharged in time to still make it to her meeting with the cancer team in Nashville. Although these rapid changes and heartbreaking results had been shared with us, we continued to hold out hope for what the cancer team at Vanderbilt would be willing to do given our mother’s fragile circumstances. On July 10th-July 12th, we traveled to Nashville, TN. to meet with the doctors at Vanderbilt and were given options that our mom had just been denied locally. We met with the anesthesiologist and surgeon, and together we devised the safest and best way to have her undergo a single mastectomy that has since taken place on July 25th. Our mom received her mastectomy, along with the removal of two lymph nodes, successfully and without any complications! Since her surgery has taken place, we are now only awaiting the results from pathology to ensure that no invasive cancer was found in the breast tissue or lymph nodes removed during her surgery. Once it has been confirmed that no invasive cancer has been detected, Vanderbilt’s cancer and liver teams are working together to ensure that her case will be expedited to go in front of the hospital board for her to receive the vital approval we have all worked so hard toward getting her to over the last several months! This is where we come to you, humbly asking for your help. First, we appreciate all continued prayers for our family and each of the doctors and caregivers on our mother’s team. Secondly, this has been an emotionally and financially grueling time for our family. From the beginning, Chasity continued to work with the help of my sister and I, along with the help of a dear friend and coworker, as a dedicated employee as she was physically able to up until July of this year. Moving forward, she will be stepping back from work and will be incredibly limited on the income she will bring in as she is no longer able to physically work at this time. Additionally, Amber has discontinued working from the beginning of this time as she stepped in as our mother’s primary caregiver. As a requirement by Vanderbilt, each liver transplant patient is required to have a primary and secondary caregiver. Amber has provided our mother with 24/7 live-in caregiving to assist in overseeing our mother’s health care, transportation to each appointment, medication management, advocating for our mother, and working with each doctor to ensure strategic care plans have been devised throughout this process. This has prevented her from being able to steadily work as it is a full-time job to provide the level of care that she has for Chasity. This journey will continue to be a time-consuming and financially draining time for our family that could easily approach $50,000 out of pocket after insurance along with travel, lodging, medication, and out-of-network facilities and services fees. We are asking for your assistance, if able, to contribute anything you can afford towards the mounting fees related to our mother’s appointments, treatments, hospital stays, travel, and extended out-of-town stays leading up to and after our mother’s cancer and liver transplant surgeries at Vanderbilt. Lastly, we want to thank you for taking your time to read the story of Chasity’s journey thus far. Even more so, we want to thank each of you for your continued thoughts, prayers, words of kindness, and support throughout this time. Your help and thoughtfulness have truly continued to help in carrying each of us through as we have navigated this path together. We appreciate each person that has stepped in to give our mother, Amber, and I the love and strength we have desperately needed to get by. We want to thank you in advance for any additional financial support you may be able to provide to Chasity and our family as we continue to fight along the way.
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