March 24, 2013 --- 8 a.m.-12 noon Family Breakfast Cypress, CA

Dear Family and Friends,

My dear wife, Celina Duenas Damron, was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2008. The doctors are now calling it Lupus and it is attacking her lungs. The initial visit to her pulmonologist in November of 2011 indicated her lung capacity was at 68%. In November 2012, she was tested again and has lost another 8%. Her lung capacity is now at 60%. Although there is no cure and the damage is irreversible, Celina has started a new treatment in January of this year to try to slow the disease down.

Initially, Dr. Milstone said when she gets down to 50% it will be time to start getting ready for a transplant. At that time, Dr. Milstone thought she would have about 5-10 years before the problem would reach that point. When Celina saw Dr. Milstone this January, he said she needs to have a transplant within the next 12 months. Celina had her initial consultation with a transplant team at Vanderbilt Hospital on Thursday, February 21, 2013. The treatment (“Benlysta” blood infusions) she is receiving is costing about $8,800.00 per treatment. She has had her initial two infusions and will need one treatment per month. As of right now, the drug company is assisting us by providing us with financial aid for the drugs but not the administration of the drugs. We are not sure exactly
what part of the treatment we are responsible for or how much is covered by insurance.

The estimated cost of the transplant is approximately $450,000.00. Through our insurance we have a $250,000.00 per year annual cap with an unlimited lifetime amount. Due to the fact that this is a life-threatening illness, we have asked the insurance company for a waiver of the annual cap. It is under consideration pending the results of a transplant recipient evaluation. Celina will go through this medical evaluation to determine if she is a viable candidate for a lung transplant. The transplant evaluation process will be extensive and will evaluate all of her other organs thoroughly. She will have to be in near perfect health with the exceptions of her lung problem before she undergoes a transplant.

Celina’s main challenge is Lupus, which can cause a variety of problems with any of her other organs. If she is accepted into the program, she will be placed on a transplant waiting list. After she receives her transplant, she will be required to stay at a location within 20 minutes of Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee for a period of three months. One family member will be required to stay with her at all times throughout the recovery process.

Celina’s parents, Rita and Luis Duenas from Garden Grove, California, are coming to Tennessee as soon as they can, and Rita will be staying with Celina during her 3-month recovery period. We roughly expect the cost of room and board during this time to run between $5,000.00 and $8,000.00. We have three kids, two boys Noel (16) and Nicholas (13) and one girl Mariana (6).

Please pray to Jesus for mercy and healing for my wife Celina; he is our only hope. Lung transplant recipients have an 80% chance of surviving the procedure. After that, they only have 50% chance of surviving the first year. Although some lung transplant recipients can live for up to 5-7 years, life expectancy after the transplant varies wildly anywhere from 1-7 years and the doctors do not have a definitive answer for the variations. These numbers are only my understanding and I’m not so sure I really understand them correctly.

Thank you very much.

Robert and Celina Damron
Tullahoma, Tennessee