Dollar by dollar, family prepares for transplant

By Amanda O'Toole

The Wichita Eagle

April 17, 2006

Roy Hollumn told jokes while he folded clothes at a garage sale Saturday morning at a relative's house.

The sale started late because the family had been worried it would rain in the morning.

Hollumn, with a smile on his face, was still stacking clothing and putting out knickknacks around 9 a.m.

The laughter at the garage sale in southeast Wichita hid the seriousness of its cause -- raising money for a heart transplant for Hollumn's 22-year-old daughter, Sherita.

Saturday was the second day of the sale, which was made possible by donations from relatives, friends and strangers.

It was the first of many fundraisers they'll have to put together to raise the $139,000 they'll need for the surgery.

The Hollumn family raised more than $900 at the garage sale this weekend, which will go into an account set up through the National Transplant Assistance Fund.

In January, Sherita Hollumn went to the doctor because she thought she had a cold. It turned out to be cardiomyopathy, a heart condition she developed while pregnant with her twins.

The malady weakens the heart. Her heart moves about 15 to 20 percent as much blood as a healthy heart would.

She has to make sure she isn't too active when she plays with her three daughters, Destiny, 3, and Tiara and Kiara, 5 months.

She can't even dress them without getting worn out.

"On a good day, I have to rest two or three times when I dress them," she said.

And because she doesn't have health insurance, Hollumn must raise the money for the transplant surgery before she can be placed on the United Network for Organ Sharing waiting list.

Organ centers will often require uninsured patients to raise the cost of surgery to demonstrate they can pay for antirejection medication and any later surgeries, said Judy MacGregor, patient services manager for the National Transplant Assistance Fund.

More than 3,000 people nationwide are waiting for a heart transplant, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, a federal program that tracks organs and the people waiting for them.

"It's stressful. Even when I have the money, I still have to wait," Hollumn said, looking at the twins, who were sleeping in carriers at her feet. "I just think I'm going to do so much and (my heart) is going to stop beating."

And though she tries not to, she thinks about death every day.

"I'm a lot scared," she said. "I want things to go back to the way they used to be."

But her family helps her remain positive.

Hollumn's friends and family plan a car wash and have contacted daytime TV talk shows, hoping to tell their story.

"I appreciate it," she said. "I'm thankful."

Reach Amanda O'Toole at (316) 268-6357 or aotoole@wichitaeagle.com.

Copyright © 2006 Knight Ridder.

This article posted May 20, 2006.