The Dunn Family: Rebekah, Allison, Jeff, and Leah
Rebekah was a radiant pre-teen—full of spark, ambition, and dreams. Like many girls her age, she enjoyed going to concerts, hanging out with her friends, studying hard, and spending time with her close-knit family. She and her parents, Allison and Jeff, and her younger sister, Leah, live in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.
At age 12, Rebekah began experiencing gastrointestinal issues. Two years into that struggle, her doctor performed an endoscopy, examining her abdominal organs with a small camera. After that, her condition rapidly worsened. Hospitalizations became frequent, resulting in many missed school days. Eventually, Rebekah could no longer eat on her own and was diagnosed with gastroparesis and a pseudo-obstruction.
Determined not to let her illness stop her, Rebekah completed high school online and was accepted into a prestigious nursing school at Bradley University, in Peoria, Illinois. Now completely dependent on total parenteral nutrition (TPN) delivered intravenously, she managed to complete her first two years of college despite her body’s continued decline. Her family did everything they could to help Rebekah, consulting with leading physicians from some of the most respected hospitals in the country. But nothing seemed to help.
“We felt like we were running out of answers,” said Allison, “but we just weren’t ready to give up.”
Finally, a physician told the family that Rebekah would need a multivisceral transplant—a highly complex procedure involving the transplantation of multiple abdominal organs. But something gave Allison pause.
“I realized that he wasn’t the one meant to do this transplant,” she recalled.
Then a friend connected Rebekah with IU Health Transplant in Indianapolis.
After meeting with Dr. Richard Mangus and the transplant team, Rebekah and her mom felt something was different. “The entire team was so kind and compassionate,” Allison shared. “We felt so much more comfortable. They offered us hope.”
Rebekah and her family made the decision for her to be listed for transplant. She was listed for 4 years before the miracle finally happened. At 23 years old, Rebekah received a five-organ transplant—stomach, pancreas, liver, and both small and large intestines.
It was an extremely complicated surgery with a long recovery time. Since they were almost four hours from home, the family was very grateful when a transplant social worker told them about Fair Haven. “We had to be in Indianapolis for five months,” said Rebekah. “With all the medical bills, we wouldn’t have been able to afford to live here…. It made a huge difference for us to be able to stay at Fair Haven.”
She added, “Fair Haven is very close to the hospital, which is very important. If there are any emergencies, you have to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.”
“Fair Haven saved us in many ways,” said Allison. “I had no clue we were going to be here this long. I don’t know what we would have done financially….
“And I would have experienced such loneliness if I hadn’t been here. Not even my closest friends can fully understand what we’re going through, as hard as they might try. But here, other guests understand because they’re experiencing their own struggles. You don’t feel so alone in the fight.”
“Thank God for Fair Haven.”
Today, Rebekah is 25 years old and is back at home. Even though she sometimes experiences setbacks, she is moving forward with her life. After not being able to eat for years, Rebekah loves to cook and is enjoying all sorts of foods again. Because of the sensitivity of her immune system as a transplant patient, she has decided to shift her career plans from nursing to a different health-related field.
“I hope to attend college closer to home and go into a cardiac sonography program. That field allows me to use my own health experience to help others. I want to make scary times not so scary for patients. For example, if a kid needs an ultrasound on their heart and is afraid, I can tell them I’ve had a ton of these in my lifetime and help ease their fears.”
After having to miss out for so long, Rebekah is enjoying connecting with friends again and slowly jumping back into social outings. “I’m thrilled that I’m getting to do some typical mid-20-year-old things,” she shared. Despite all that she has been through, Rebekah has a wonderfully positive attitude and a beautiful smile.
“My transplant has given me that second chance at life.”
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