By Janice Podsada
Herald Writer
MUKILTEO — The nightmare goes like this: Raise a quarter-million dollars in two months or walk away from an operation that could save your life.
In December, Jim and Pat Morgan of Mukilteo woke to the nightmare.
They discovered their insurance would not pay for a stem-cell transplant that Jim, suffering from lymphoma, needed to beat the odds.
DeAnne Findlay, Pat’s longtime friend and a fellow teacher at Harbour Pointe Middle School in Mukilteo, where Pat teaches sixth-grade, wanted desperately to help.
The Morgans’ nightmare had left her sleepless night after night, wondering how to raise the money.
"I was lying in bed, not sleeping, when I realized this is only going to come about if we do something," Findlay said. "I needed to get rolling."
Findlay got rolling. The next day the two friends sat down at Morgan’s kitchen table and called 20 people they could count on: Mukilteo School District teachers; Jim’s co-workers at Burlington Northern, where Jim, 52, works as a civil engineer; friends and neighbors
They created a donation fund, planned a benefit auction and then watched in amazement as donations poured in. The list of people and business owners that have donated reads like the Mukilteo phone book, if there were one, Pat said.
They raised $21,000. And then good fortune smiled on the Morgans.
Two weeks ago, Pat learned that the second operation would be performed free as part of a clinical research trial conducted by the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.
The pressure to raise a quarter-million dollars lifted, Findlay said.
But the couple’s living expenses, housing and the medical follow-up care by Jim’s Seattle-area doctors is not covered by insurance, so fund-raising efforts will continue, Findlay said.
Doctors at the institute told the Morgans they should plan to spend four months in Bethesda, beginning sometime in February, for the operation and recovery.
"Once we know the date, it’s pack and go," said Pat, who is taking a leave of absence from her teaching job to care for her husband.
Pat, who’s taught in the Mukilteo schools for 14 years, learned students and teachers throughout the school district had taken up a collection for Jim. She learned that a group of sixth-grade girls had perfected a recipe for dog and cat treats and were selling the biscuits door-to-door to raise money for Jim’s operation.
"I’ve often wondered what I’ve done to deserve such help," Pat said.
Jim, Pat’s husband of 25 years, was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer in May 2000. He underwent chemotherapy for six months and was free of cancer until July, when a doctor’s visit revealed the lymphoma had returned.
Jim had his own stem cells transplanted Dec. 28. Insurance paid for the operation at the University of Washington. The procedure raised his chances of survival to somewhere around 10 percent.
But his doctors advised him to undergo a second operation that would boost his chance of survival to 50 percent. Stem cells from Jim’s brother, Bob, 62, of Cutbank, Mont., or his sister, Barb Buechler, 37, of Malta, would be implanted.
"Either one is a perfect match," Pat said.
But the $245,000 procedure, considered experimental, wasn’t covered by the Morgans’ insurance.
"The disease itself is so overwhelming it consumes you," Pat said. "Then this thought of raising $245,000 was just incomprehensible."
That’s when Findlay stepped in to help.
"For a good couple of weeks we thought we’ve got to come up with that much by the end of January. We’ve been on a roller-coaster," Pat said.
The two friends sat down again this week at Morgans’ kitchen table, a little less pressured.
Jim, home from the hospital, slept soundly in the other room.
Pat, laughingly, told Findlay she had been busy cleaning her freezer.
A friend of Jim’s brother had donated 60 pounds of Montana grain-fed beef for his benefit auction, scheduled for Jan. 25 at Harbour Pointe Middle School.
"None of this would have happened without DeAnne," she said, looking across the table at her friend.
Findlay looked back, tears in her eyes.
"This has kind of made a bond that will never break."
You can call Herald Writer Janice Podsada at 425-339-3029 or send e-mail to podsada@heraldnet.com.
Tuesday, Jan. 22. A benefit concert and auction will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at Harbour Pointe Middle School, 5000 Harbour Pointe Blvd. in Mukilteo. Music will be provided by the Harbour Pointe Orchestra and Jazz Band. More than 75 items will be auctioned, including Sonics tickets, a round of golf for four at the Harbour Pointe Golf Club, a two-hour professional photo shoot, and two nights at the Saratoga Inn on Whidbey Island.
Friday, Jan. 25: Harbour Pointe Middle School teachers will flip burgers and run the cash registers from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Harbour Pointe McDonald’s, 3717 Harbour Pointe Blvd. McDonald’s will donate 30 percent of profits during the two-hour block.
Donations can be sent to: The Max Foundation, c/o Jim Morgan Fund, 110 W. Dayton St., Suite 205, Edmonds, WA 98020
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