Tara Needs New Lungs: Family Friendly Benefit for Tara Suplicki

Come join us for a great time and a great cause. Come eat and drink in of support of Tara Suplicki!

Here are Tara's words and the story of her journey.

The Start Of My Journey

On June 3rd, 2008 I was diagnosed with a rare lung disease called,
Pulmonary Hypertension. I had never even heard of this before. I felt
absolutely helpless as they told me that the only way to truly cure the
disease was through an invasive surgical procedure called a double-lung
transplantation. I was told that this disease could also be treated with
medications, but since it is a progressive disease I would ultimately
need new lungs. I didn’t know what to think. I had just turned 30 and
now my doctor was talking about IV medications, lung transplants and the
fact that I could never have babies. That was where I became numb and
completely shut down, I stopped listening.

Right After Diagnosis...

At diagnosis, I was told that I should go home and under no
circumstance look up this disease on the internet. Of course this was
the first thing that I did. That is where I really began to understand
all about the medicines that were available for my disease. Three weeks
after my diagnosis I had a stroke. I lay on the floor of my house for
five hours until my Michael came home and found me. The stroke threw all
of my doctors for a loop! It wasn’t supposed to happen. I recovered
fully from the stroke physically. Although I do have some residual
speech problems and some balance issues, but otherwise no complaints!

Fast Forward To The Present...

December 2012, I went to the ER and was admitted to the hospital with a
raging staph infection inside not only my Hickman line, but also in my
blood. Some of my other vitals weren’t doing so well either. So, they
began testing to try to figure out what was wrong with me. Eventually
the doctors decided to do another right heart cath. It showed that my
Pulmonary Hypertension pressures had significantly increased. This
showed my doctors and me that although we were aggressively treating my
pulmonary hypertension from every pathway possible it wasn’t being
managed as well as we hoped. Instead of improving I was actually getting
worse. Then in February of 2013, I was admitted to the hospital with
RSV. This disease kept me in isolation for 9 days. It also drained my
body physically. I found it harder to bounce back after being in the
hospital this time. My medical team told me that it was time to go begin
the process of getting listed for a double-lung transplant at Penn
Medical Center.

Can You Help Me In My Journey?
As you may
or may not realize this procedure is extremely expensive. The cost for
the procedure is not the only cost that I will be facing. After the
surgery I will be on anti-rejection medication for the rest of my life.
Some of the medications I will only be on for 3 to 6 months those are
the medications that my insurance is not covering. After the surgery is
done it will be also be necessary for me to stay in the Philadelphia
area near Penn Medical Center for close to three months. These costs are
paid for by me and my family. However, you can help. The social workers
at Penn Medical have told me that I need to raise the money for my
expenses. Any help that you can provide will go toward medication and
travel and housing expenses during this process. Any kind of donation is
greatly appreciated and will truly assist me in this journey.

Thank you so much for your help.

With my heartfelt blessings

Tara Suplicki