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Turning Survival Into Solutions: How Lorrinda Gray-Davis Created an App to Help Transplant Patients Navigate Medication Costs

For many people, a transplant feels like a finish line. But for Lorrinda Gray-Davis, it was only the beginning. Six months after moving back to Oklahoma, Lorrinda was diagnosed with end-stage liver disease. Less than three months later, she heard words no one is prepared for: inoperable liver cancer. On August 8, 2018, she received a liver transplant that saved her life and changed it forever. Lorrinda’s dedication extends beyond her own experience. Her family has also faced live health challenges, from her brother’s transplant to her cousin’s recent diagnosis of a cholestatic liver disease at just sixteen years old. For Lorrinda, liver health is personal, and her mission is clear: to ensure patients have access to the resources and support they need.

Life After Surgery Isn’t Simple Building a Supportive Community with TRIO A Tool Built by a Patient for Patients A Mission of Empowerment Websites

Life After Surgery Isn’t Simple

A transplant patient’s journey doesn’t end with surgery. They leave the hospital with a lifelong medication schedule, constant monitoring, and a healthcare system that can feel impossible to navigate. For Lorrinda, it meant taking handful of pills every single day, so many that when she counted them, it added up to over 10,000 pills in a year.
Then came the costs.
After switching from commercial insurance to Medicare, medications that had once been manageable suddenly became a financial struggle. One prescription alone was quoted at around $624. Even with insurance, the price was still $195 until Lorrinda found a manufacturer copay card on her own. The final cost? $10.
The help had always been there. The problem was knowing how to find it.

Building a Supportive Community with TRIO

Lorrinda’s advocacy journey took flight through TRIO, a nonprofit organization dedicated to transplant recipients and their families. Joining the organization just five months after her transplant, she quickly became a driving force, eventually establishing the Oklahoma chapter alongside her friend Karen Hoyt. Through TRIO, Lorrinda has spent years helping patients and caregivers navigate the post-transplant process, providing peer-to-peer support, education, and advocacy resources.
As an international nonprofit approaching its 40th year, TRIO has grown into a place where patients can learn about post-transplant care, connect with peers, and gain the knowledge to take control of their health. Lorrinda’s work has been especially focused on helping patients with tools to manage the complex world of transplant medications.

A Tool Built by a Patient for Patients

Facing these challenges herself, Lorrinda created the Transplant Medication Navigator, an app that makes managing transplant medications easier and less overwhelming for patients. The app helps users understand medication costs, identify applicable copay cards and grants, and provides step-by-step guidance for filling out patient assistance applications. Her vision is to eventually expand its reach as a software tool for transplant centers, helping patients secure medications without the need to scramble for funds. The app’s goal is simple but powerful: reduce frustration, save money, and give patients a practical way to manage their post-transplant care.
“I knew how to find help,” Lorrinda says. “But I realized most people don’t. And they shouldn’t have to figure this out alone.”

A Mission of Empowerment

Through TRIO and her app, Lorrinda Gray-Davis is transforming the transplant experience. She combines advocacy, education, and technology to provide patients the tools they need to manage their health, navigate finances, and feel supported every step of the way.
What started as Lorrinda’s own fight to survive has grown into something much bigger, a lifeline for others who are still finding their way.