Help for the Gerken Family
Donation protected
Here is Bobbie's story as told by Katie Gerken:
In May 2016, mom went in for a routine surgery to insert pins and screws to fix her hammer toe on her right foot. Unfortunately due to cellulitis and poor blood circulation, her toes became infected and after a short period of time it was decided that she would need to have her right leg amputated below the knee.
This was a very hard blow for us but we rallied around Mom and after the surgery she rehabbed and with a prosthetic was able to walk again!
About a month ago, Mom cut her left foot and the cut became infected. At first we thought that with antibiotics it would clear up and she wouldn’t even need to go to the hospital. When it became clear that it wasn’t going away Dad took her in and they admitted her for a couple of days to give her some IV antibiotics.
After sending her home with more IV antibiotics, Mom’s pain unexpectedly spiked one morning and Dad took her back to the hospital on June 28th. Since then, she’s been at St Joseph’s and her toes have gotten worse to the point of gangrene until finally coming under control this week.
Unfortunately, although the infection is not progressing in her foot anymore, it also will not get better. We met as a family this last Saturday and came to the hard decision that Mom would have another below the knee amputation, this time on her left leg.
This is going to be extremely hard on her, both recovery and rehab, and on our family. Hayley, Dad and I will need to take time off work to take care of her and our Grandma or hire an aide to help when we can’t. We will need Uber gift cards for mom to eventually use so she can get from the house to rehab and back if we can’t take her.
There’s also an issue with their bathroom not being ADA compliant, which makes it difficult if not impossible for Mom to be able to wheel herself in there in her wheelchair. We will need to either do some renovations on the bathroom or find another solution for her to use the bathroom when we are not home to assist.
*The contributions made to this fund will go directly to the Gerken family in order to help with medical bills, income supplementation, and assisting with all other needs during this difficult transition. The Gerken family is very thankful for your prayers and financial gifts during this time.
In May 2016, mom went in for a routine surgery to insert pins and screws to fix her hammer toe on her right foot. Unfortunately due to cellulitis and poor blood circulation, her toes became infected and after a short period of time it was decided that she would need to have her right leg amputated below the knee.
This was a very hard blow for us but we rallied around Mom and after the surgery she rehabbed and with a prosthetic was able to walk again!
About a month ago, Mom cut her left foot and the cut became infected. At first we thought that with antibiotics it would clear up and she wouldn’t even need to go to the hospital. When it became clear that it wasn’t going away Dad took her in and they admitted her for a couple of days to give her some IV antibiotics.
After sending her home with more IV antibiotics, Mom’s pain unexpectedly spiked one morning and Dad took her back to the hospital on June 28th. Since then, she’s been at St Joseph’s and her toes have gotten worse to the point of gangrene until finally coming under control this week.
Unfortunately, although the infection is not progressing in her foot anymore, it also will not get better. We met as a family this last Saturday and came to the hard decision that Mom would have another below the knee amputation, this time on her left leg.
This is going to be extremely hard on her, both recovery and rehab, and on our family. Hayley, Dad and I will need to take time off work to take care of her and our Grandma or hire an aide to help when we can’t. We will need Uber gift cards for mom to eventually use so she can get from the house to rehab and back if we can’t take her.
There’s also an issue with their bathroom not being ADA compliant, which makes it difficult if not impossible for Mom to be able to wheel herself in there in her wheelchair. We will need to either do some renovations on the bathroom or find another solution for her to use the bathroom when we are not home to assist.
*The contributions made to this fund will go directly to the Gerken family in order to help with medical bills, income supplementation, and assisting with all other needs during this difficult transition. The Gerken family is very thankful for your prayers and financial gifts during this time.
Organizer and beneficiary
Kaitlyn Tripp
Organizer
Orange, CA
Michael Gerken
Beneficiary
