An unusual plea for help

From the editors of The Greanville Post

Dear Friends:

Rowan Wolf

The reason for this most unusual appeal is a sad and compelling one. One of our closest friends and invaluable comrades in this struggle to move human society, and especially America, toward a better future, is literally dying for lack of financial resources to cover her enormous medical expenses. Probably many of you know that The Greanville Post (TGP) and Cyrano’s Journal Today (CJT) are sister sites created by a tightly-knit cooperative of committed citizens journalists and animated with the same spirit. Rowan Wolf—editor-in-chief of Cyrano’s Journal— is a critical member of this community.

Now, however, a whimsical destiny has dealt her an awful card, and she finds herself in dire straits (pulmonary heart disease), with a heart-lung transplant from Stanford as her only hope.  The major hurdle is that she lacks the necessary funding, and although I know most of you—like us—have only limited resources, we are endeavoring to create a dynamic on the Internet so that  an ever-growing number of people can become apprised of her desperate situation.  Her prospects are brutally simple: she lives if she raises the money, and dies in two years or so if she doesn’t.  In effect, the American health care system has transformed a beautiful person, a tireless, exemplary ecoanimal defense and all-round political activist and accomplished sociology professor into a “beggar” and she is forced to depend on us for a possible solution. This at a time in which just breathing is an effort for her. (Characteristically, she has refused to leave her editorial functions at CJT, and thanks to her effort that resource sails on.)

So what we are asking here is not in any way a donation to TGP or CJT, but a direct assist to a comrade whose luck is dangerously close to running out.

If you would be so kind as to spread the word to all of your colleagues and friends, we would be profoundly grateful.  If they can’t contribute themselves, they can make a significant difference just by passing on the information below until the number of her supporters can grow exponentially.  Any donations, by the way, are fully tax deductible, as they go through the National Transplant Assistance Fund (NTAF).  Rowan is family to the entire progressive community, and I needn’t tell you the depth of her commitment to other beings.

Anyway, the details follow, expressed in her own words. We are sorry to be the bearers of such tragic news, but, as already mentioned, we are doing all we can to get the word out, and remain confident that many others will do what they can once they learn of her circumstances.  Many thanks to you all for your time, and may better days finally grace our horizons.

Incidentally, do forgive us if you already received one of our appeals.  Chalk it up to our sense of urgency and mounting desperation.

Please don’t fail us on this one.

PATRICE GREANVILLE, Editor in Chief & Publisher
The Greanville Post

ED DUVIN, Editor at Large & Cofounder
The Greanville Post
Cyrano’s Journal Today

GAITHER STEWART,
Senior Editor & Foreign Correspondent
The Greanville Post
Cyrano’s Journal Today

_____________________________________________________________________________

[Note: Please forgive the impersonal nature of a mass email, but I don’t have the strength or energy to contact everyone separately.  I have also included this as an attachment for your convenience.]

Dear Friends,

I am writing you at this time to ask for your help. Those of you who know me well, know how difficult such an appeal is.

In January 2010 I was struck down by what was thought were pulmonary emboli. This took me out of teaching for the rest of the year. My heart and lungs continued to fail, with each day leaving me weaker than the last until July. Then a new pulmonologist, Maxine Dexter, went over my case with a fine-toothed comb and determined that I actually had pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH or PH). This is a rare condition that increases the pressures in the lungs making them unable to function properly. This puts tremendous strain on the heart, and has seriously damaged mine. PH is a progressive and irreversible disease.  My doctor started the long process of getting me evaluated for a heart-lung transplant, as this is the only cure for PH. Stanford Hospital has almost approved me and I will soon be on the transplant list. One of the hurdles in my path is being able to financially address the costs of transplant when I will be out of work for many months, and perhaps the rest of my life.

I have been tremendously lucky to have insurance and a job that has allowed me to continue to work part time and blessed to have my partner Kelly and a very supportive family. Transplants are tremendously expensive procedures, and the costs beyond transplant are large and some go on for the rest of one’s life. For example, I will have to go to Stanford at least once a year for follow-up care, and take anti-rejection medications costing in excess of $5000 a month for the rest of my life.  Even with my health insurance coverage, it is estimated that I may have over $25,000 in transplant related costs for the first year and over $10,000 for every year thereafter.

To help alleviate the financial burden of transplantation, a fundraising campaign has been established in my honor with National Transplant Assistance Fund (NTAF) for my uninsured medical expenses. NTAF is a nonprofit organization that has been providing assistance to the transplant community for more than 25 years. Your tax-deductible contribution is greatly appreciated.

Please make check payable to:
NTAF Northwest Heart/Lung Transplant Fund,  In honor of Rowan Wolf

Send to:  NTAF, 150 N. Radnor Chester Road, Suite F-120, Radnor, PA  19087

To use a credit card, please call 800-642-8399 or visit http://www.ntafund.org and enter Rowan Wolf in the “Find A Patient” box on the homepage.  Or go to my tribute page if you are getting the letter by email, and select “Contribute Now.”

If you are unable to help financially but still wish to assist with my fundraising efforts, I’d be so appreciative.  Please pass on my information to others or call or email  me or Rebecca rcarr@ntafund.org (800.642.8399 )  to volunteer as we move forward with planning fundraising events.

It is my hope that I will receive a transplant, heal and return to teaching and activism. I have been active in the environmental, animal rights, and social justice movements for most of my life and my goal is to continue my efforts to make this world a better place for all living creatures.

Kelly, and our four-legged ones (our three dogs and two adopted feral cats), and I are tremendously grateful for your positive thoughts, prayers, contributions, and help.

With kind regards and love,

Rowan Wolf | Phone: 503.261.9488
rowanstransplant@gmail.com

Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. This campaign is administered by the National Transplant Assistance Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing fundraising assistance to transplant and catastrophic injury patients. Information: 800.642.8399

ADDENDUM

I attach below a draft outlining and clarifying in more detail what you might be able to do if monetary assistance is out of the question. Thank you so much for your patience:

Dear Friends and Friends of Friends,

As you know now from the preceding, this is an appeal for your help in meeting the uninsured medical expenses of a heart-lung transplant for me. That help can take a variety of forms.

This appeal focuses on monetary contributions and those are extremely important. If you are giving a check make sure that in the memo section you put “In honor of Rowan Wolf” otherwise the money will go as a donation to NTAF’s general operating fund and not to the regional restricted fund in my honor.I realize that many of you are financially stretched, but there are other contributions that are also important and helpful:-

Pass this appeal on to others you know and ask for their help. For example, “Rowan is my friend and needs your help.”—

Volunteering to do fundraising from a garage sale to making an appeal in your place of worship, community organization, or place of business. If you do plan to raise funds, please contact Rebecca Carr at NTAF for the information you need. Her number  is 800.642.8399 and her email is

rcarr@ntafund.org

IF YOU HAVE A WEBSITE, or belong to a social networking site, put up a link to my page at

NTAF: https://www.ntafund.org/find-a-patient/profile/index.cfm/patient/E0F54FD8-C5F5-8B8D-0546303FF41A1F15

I have also started a series of sites called Rowan’s Heart. The purpose of these sites is to share the journey I am on. I am posting the story in multiple places because the network is wider that way. They are “mirrors” of each other, but different people use different services. Here are the links:

Blogspot http://rowansheart.blogspot.com/

Main Domain http://www.rowansheart.com/

Posterous http://rowansheart.posterous.com/

Wordpress site http://rowansheart.wordpress.com/

As you pass this appeal along, please pass along this part as well.

Thank you for all of your care and support.

—Rowan