Many of you may know Gwen Harris and for those of you who don't, she is a loving mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, and a good friend to many people. She loves life and celebrates it with an inimitable passion for its simplest pleasures.

What you may not know is that the last several years have been a physical and mental struggle for Gwen. In June of 2008, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and subsequently had a successful surgery and treatment. It wasn't until April of 2009 that things took a turn for the worse. During a follow-up visit, her doctors diagnosed her with an end-stage liver disease and immediately began a treatment program. It's safe to say that her breast cancer was a blessing in disguise because without the follow-up visit we would not have known about the liver disease that she has been living with undetected for many years. Despite her commitment to always living a healthy lifestyle, following every medical regime, and enduring numerous painful and costly procedures, her liver disease had already progressed to the point that the treatment plan did not help and it was having a negative impact on her quality of life. Her team of doctors stopped the treatment and referred her to a liver specialist in San Antonio so that they could begin to monitor the debilitating disease with which she is facing. A few months later she started to become short of breath, to the point that she could barely walk from her home to her car without gasping for air. Her team in San Antonio began to run tests and shortly thereafter they delivered more bad news. She was diagnosed with a condition called Hepatopulmonary Syndrome. It is an uncommon condition that occurs in people with an existing liver disease that has advanced to the point it affects their lungs by restricting the amount of oxygen that the lungs can deliver to the body and the only cure is to have a liver transplant. She is now on oxygen 100% of the time, but the good news is that she has officially been placed on the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) liver transplant list.

We are all patiently waiting for Gwen to receive the call for her second chance at life, but while we wait the family and friends are uniting to raise money to help offset the costs associated with the liver transplant. Funding this life-saving surgery is a monumental task. Even with insurance, Gwen and her family will have many uninsured transplant-related expenses such as: co-pays, deductibles, doctor visits, travel to and from the transplant center in San Antonio, and the costly anti-rejection medications that she will need to take for the rest of her life. This is a financial challenge that we cannot meet alone.

We sincerely appreciate any and all contributions, especially given the current economic climate. Please feel no obligations whatsoever, but if you can help us write the next chapter of Gwen's Story we would all owe you a debt of gratitude.

Sincerely,
The Harris Family