Hi, my name is Rachel and I’m organizing this fundraiser for my new friend, Kendra Wethington. I met Kendra on the stem cell transplant floor at MD Anderson Cancer Center. A stem cell transplant is a unique procedure that's hard to understand until you go through it yourself. Our transplants were within one day of each other, and having someone who understood the pain and emotions that came with it helped me immensely. Kendra was a source of strength, faith, and resilience for me when I was going through the hardest journey of my life. Her procedure is more complex than mine was since she received donor cells, so even though I’ve been discharged, she is still currently inpatient. She’s run into complications that have made this even harder on her, such as an infection and a twisted PICC line. But she’s been able to smile through it all, which is more than I could manage while I was inpatient. To say she’s inspiring is an understatement. On top of that, when I had days that my caregiver was sick and I was alone in the hospital, her mother Karen visited me, held my hand, and was the mom I needed. Kendra and Karen are two of the kindest and most positive people I've been lucky to meet. At the end of this month, Kendra will be dropped from her health insurance. Medical bills will start coming in. To give you a price anchor, my stem cell transplant was quoted for over $750,000. That's before the infection workups, ER visits post-discharge, and all the extra testing that happened while I was inpatient. Kendra has had her share of extra procedures and workups while she's been inpatient and her stay is longer than mine, so her bill will likely exceed $1M. Kendra will also need to stay in Houston for 100 days post-transplant. This means 100 days of paying for lodging, food, and transportation, which insurance is no longer covering beginning in August. If there's anyone who's deserving of support, it's Kendra and her mother Karen. They've been on Kendra's cancer journey since 2024 and are due for a blessing. Please consider donating what you can to ease the burden of 2 cancers in 3 years and a stem cell transplant. Thank you for reading, donating, and sharing.
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