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LIVER TRANSPLANT FAMILY HOME FOR FATHER'S DAY!
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My husband Dan was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver in September 2016. He quickly went downhill. He was hospitalized many times with ammonia levels up and confusion. He went into a nurs
 ing home in April because of repeated complications and spent half of the time in the hospital. The end of
April he got an infection in the belly fluid and was transferred to Madison because his MELD score had increased to 30. The second day in the hospital 2 of the surgeons came in and said, "We think we have a liv
er!" He had his transplant on our 35th anniversary. What a blessing.
During the entire time he was hospitalized, I stayed at Restoring Hope Transplant House. My sisters, niece and my son were here also during that time for a few days at a time. Staying at the Transplant House is like another home. I truly enjoyed meeting the other people who stayed at the house and hearing their stories. It helped knowing everything that he was going through was normal and that was very helpful. My morning conversations with Cindy were also very helpful. I will miss her breakfasts in the morning and the evening conversations with Eric who always asked how my day went. I look forward to comi
ng back for appointments and showing Dan where I stayed.
-Jackie
Liver Transplant Caregiver
Eau Claire, WI
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Emily's Flowers...Summer Is Officially Here!
Our good friend Emily passed away last year at just 25 years young. The year before her passing, Em stopped by the Transplant House one rainy spring day to deliver a beautifully crafted flower box which she filled with soil and colorful flowers for our guests to enjoy. Here's a current look at The Emily Mahon flower box from a photo taken just this morning...hope you like it Em!
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RHTH Executive Director Cindy Herbst with Lions Club supporter Peter Cerniglia at the recent Doug Miller Transplant Symposium in Wisconsin Dells |
On the Road and in the News
It has been a very busy spring and summer of traveling the great state of Wisconsin and beyond to participate in various conventions, fundraisers and events to help spread the word about Restoring Hope Transplant House. It has been wonderful to reconnect with so many loyal supporters, meet new friends who fall in love with the cause and to visit so many of the communties that our guests call home.
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Wausau News: Lions Donations Help Transplant Families
It was great to have the opportunity to get up to Wausau recently and speak at a Lions Club gathering of Transplant House supporters. Even more touching was the fact that several of our Wausau area transplant families took the time to attend the dinner, visit with us and show their appreciation for those who have given so much to support what was and continues to be their home away from home whenever their transplant journey brings them to Madison. It was a special night for us and we appreciated the local Wausau media sharing the story of what so many Wisconsin Lions Clubs have been doing to support Restoring Hope and the transplant community over the past several years.
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Lung Transplant Guests: From Not Long To Live To Enjoying Summer At Home
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While a few of these article details may have been a touch lost in translation during our long distance telephone interviews, the beauty of the story and of another chance at life for our friends Sue and Bruce of Westby made this feature in the LaCrosse Tribune a special one for all of us.
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Gordon Flesch Donates New Copier
Words alone cannot do justice to how thankful we are to the entire Gordon Flesch Family for their continued support of Restoring Hope Transplant House and our visiting families. Our Canon office printer is quite possibly the most important tool we have at our disposal on a daily basis. When our aging machine was on its last legs the other week, the Flesch family and employees were kind enough to donate a new one to support the cause. From one transplant family to another, please know how much we appreciate this wonderful gesture!
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Wisconsin Rapids Fundraiser Supports RHTH
Grateful to everyone who was involved in the recent
Central Wisconsin Gift of Life Scavenger Hunt event up in Wisconsin Rapids. What a beautiful day to be outdoors, we were so happy we could make the trip up to take it all in. Proceeds from this annual event benefit great transplant related causes including Restoring Hope Transplant House. We are so appreciative of your support and kindness!
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Paying It Forward: In Loving Memory of Mom
Great article about one of our transplant families honoring the memory of their beloved mother by holding their annual Restoring Hope Thrift Shop Scavenger Hunt event to support the place they called home during their transplant journey. Fundraisers like these truly help to keep our doors open and when they're hosted by one of our own transplant families, it really hits home how much having this type of environment means to so many of our guests. Thank you all!
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You Can Help!
Donated household supplies and financial contributions are so critcally important to any non-profit and RHTH is certainly no different. We appreciate groups like these generous Seneca Lions Club members for donating so many of these supplies we use on a daily basis. It makes such a difference.
We are also actively searching for major donors to help with our joint efforts with the Lions Clubs of Wisconsin and others to help push us over the top for our extensive plans to renovate and add on to the current house. This will ensure that Restoring Hope Transplant House becomes a longtime fixture in both downtown Middleton and in the transplant community. If you have any suggestions, connections or interest please contact Executive Director Cindy Herbst at 608-831-1726 or via email at [email protected]. We so badly want this to happen...but we need your help!
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Support the transplant community when you make a secure online donation via PayPal to Restoring Hope Transplant House. The $35 a night we charge transplant families is not nearly enough to offset our regular expenses so we depend almost entirely on your generosity. During a typical summer heat wave, our air conditioning bill alone can be several hundred dollars each month. Please help if you can - your contributions are critical!
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Ted's Trek - August 25th in Weston
Our good friends with North Central Wisconsin Donate Life recently donated $4,000 to Restoring Hope Transplant House to help with so many of the families we welcome from that area. We hope you will join them for their always popular Ted's Trek Glow Fun Run/Walk event held in memory of a very dear friend on Friday August 25th up in Weston.
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Live. Love. Donate.
The Muenchow family hosts this outing in memory of their father, Steve. Steve was a two-time kidney transplant patient. His first transplant was in 1991 from a deceased donor and his second transplant was from their beautiful mother in 2007. Their father passed away suddenly in 2014 due to stage four terminal lung cancer. He had a passion for the game of golf, and an even greater passion for organ, eye, and tissue donation!
Check out their story at
livelovedonate.com! They are a family-run nonprofit in the State of Wisconsin!
All proceeds benefit The Restoring Hope Transplant House.
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RHTH Guests In Their Own Words
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Stem Cell Transplant Family from Coon Valley
Ken was at UW Hospital for 35 days. I stayed at RHTH many nights during those 35 days.
In our transplant journey we went from feelings of fear, anxiety and nervousness to feelings of comfort, hopefulness and thankfulness.
We're thankful to Cindy, Eric and all the families we've met for their sin
cere
interest and support through this journey. Every transplant story is unique but we became comf
orta
ble listening, sharing stories, providing support and really caring about those we met. RHTH has been a comfortable, relaxing spot to land at the end of a joyful or hard day.
We are also building hope that the new normal of our lives will be good. It will be different but we're hopeful we can do it.
Thanks RHTH, Cindy, Eric and all we've met. We hope everyone who walks through the doors feels the warm welcome and hospitality that supports them on this transplant journey in their life!
Paula & Kenny
Stem Cell Transplant Recipient from Donor Son
Coon Valley, WI
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About Restoring Hope Transplant House - Contact Cindy
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Gary from Gordon Flesch presents Cindy and RHTH with a new copier |
Restoring Hope Transplant House is a non-profit home established to serve organ and bone marrow transplant patients and their families. The home features five generously-sized guest rooms, multiple sitting rooms, full kitchen, laundry, cable tv, wi-fi and a tranquil yet convenient location in downtown Middleton, just five miles from UW Hospital.
If you have any questions about RHTH, please contact Cindy to learn more.
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