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Softball tournament in honor of Port St. Lucie transplant patient |
| Doctors have told Lynn Macdonald a bone marrow transplant is essential to her survival. To raise funds for the costly bone marrow transplant expenses, volunteers are planning a softball tournament in her honor. |
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| Publish Date: 09:01PM 09/10/09 |
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Macdonald, a wife and mother, began experiencing health problems several years ago. After a series of tests, Macdonald, 38, was diagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, an autoimmune/neurological illness that attacks the peripheral nerves. There is no known cause of this rare disease.
Doctors have tried treating her condition with a variety of medications, but none have offered the chance for a meaningful recovery. Macdonald's declining health causes weakness in her hands and legs, hand tremors, muscle twitching and pain, numbness, tingling and excessive fatigue.
A bone marrow transplant costs approximately $300,000. Even with health coverage, Macdonald faces significant expenses related to her transplant. It is estimated that in the short term, she needs at least $50,000 to cover her medical expenses. Because the transplant will take place 1,350 miles from her home, she will incur substantial travel and temporary housing expenses as she goes through treatment and recovery.
Macdonald turned to the National Foundation for Transplants (NFT) for assistance in alleviating some of these financial burdens. NFT is a nonprofit organization that helps patients raise funds to pay for transplant-related expenses.
“We work with patients like Lynn every day, and it’s heartbreaking to see families struggle with these soaring expenses,” said Lauren Wilmer, NFT fundraising consultant. “Many people don’t realize the enormous costs related to a transplant, even when a patient has health coverage.”
Friends and family are working with NFT to plan a softball tournament Saturday, Sept. 19, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. The tournament will take place at Sandhill Crane Park, 2355 SE Scenic Park Dr. in St. Lucie. The entry fee is $200 per team, and attendees can purchase raffle tickets, food and $5 wristbands for bounce houses.
For more information, contact Allison Kohler at 772-370-7260 or allison.kohler@att.net.
To make a tax-deductible donation in honor of Macdonald, please send a contribution to the NFT Florida Bone Marrow Fund, 5350 Poplar Ave., Suite 430, Memphis, TN 38119. Please be sure to write “in honor of Lynn Macdonald” on the memo line. Secure donations also can be made online at www.transplants.org. Donors should click on “Patients We Help” to locate Macdonald.
About NFT
NFT is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization based in Memphis, Tenn. that 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’s fundraising campaigns have generated nearly $56 million to assist patients.
NFT assists more than 1,000 transplant candidates and recipients nationwide. For more information about NFT, please call 800-489-3863 or visit www.transplants.org.
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