Earls Fight for his Life
Donation protected
On January 13th, 2019 my step-father, Earl, (whom I call my dad) starting having severe pain and having trouble breathing. After calling 911, and us thinking that he was having a heart attack, the ambulance came and transported him to the hospital. After many tests and scans, the doctors informed us that he did not have a heart attack, but had a lot of gigantic cysts in his stomach (one the size of a basketball).
The cysts were pushing on his lungs and causing him to have occasional bouts of trouble breathing, and the doctors said he would need surgery to remove the cysts. The surgery sounded simple enough, remove cysts, and everything would be okay. But that is not what happened at all.
He went in for surgery in Winston-Salem on January 29th to remove over 60 cysts, and the surgeons were able to successfully remove most of the cysts, but said that they couldn't successfully remove them all and he would need another surgery at a later date. He had to stay in the hospital for a few days post surgery, but then he went into kidney failure. After a lot of prayers and the doctors being on top of everything they were able to get his kidneys to working again, and he was released from the hospital on February 1st.
A few days later, on February the 4th, the cysts had came back, was bigger, and he was in even more pain that the first time. From there things progressively got worse. He was admitted back to the hospital in Winston-Salem for Bile leakage and an infection. He had to have another surgery to fix the bile leakage, but the stent that was put in did not work. He continued leaking bile, and he was having bad chest pain and trouble breathing. MRI's revealed that Earls entire abdominal cavity had shifted, and it was making things difficult to treat him because they couldn't find his organs under all of the cysts. After waiting a few days, and the bile continuing to leak, the doctors felt it was best to go back in the operating room. They removed the stent because it was bent and creating a blockage. Once the stent was removed, his bilirubin levels started to come down and he was on the right track to being released from the hospital, but then infection set up in his stomach. Winston-Salem felt there was nothing else that they could do, so he was sent to Duke on February 17th.
At Duke, they were able to get him back on the right track to healing, and seemed to get the infection under control. They determined that his liver was starting to fail, but they felt that he would be able to wait for a transplant. After being on a lot of medications and antibiotics, he was finally able to be released from Duke on Feb 23rd, but by Feb 25th he was back at Duke. He had turned completely yellow by this point, and on March 1st, he was put on the liver transplant list. Additionally the infection was getting worse because he had become antibiotic resistant, and he became septic. March 4th he was put into ICU, and on March 8th he was put on life support. He continues to fight for his life every day.
My mom has been by Earls side from day one, and unfortunately she was let go from her job because of it. The bills are piling up and they really could use the money for their vehicle and house payments. Additionally, my mom has been stretching the money that they do have so that she can eat, but she has only been eating once a day to try and conserve their money. She is exhausted mentally and physically. If you feel it in your heart to do something nice for someone, they really could use the money. Even if you can only give a few dollars, it would help and add up. I don't want them to loose their vehicle or have their home foreclosed on. Not to mention the medical bills are adding up as he has had multiple surgeries, and has already been in the hospital 8 weeks.
Please give, and help them out <3
The cysts were pushing on his lungs and causing him to have occasional bouts of trouble breathing, and the doctors said he would need surgery to remove the cysts. The surgery sounded simple enough, remove cysts, and everything would be okay. But that is not what happened at all.
He went in for surgery in Winston-Salem on January 29th to remove over 60 cysts, and the surgeons were able to successfully remove most of the cysts, but said that they couldn't successfully remove them all and he would need another surgery at a later date. He had to stay in the hospital for a few days post surgery, but then he went into kidney failure. After a lot of prayers and the doctors being on top of everything they were able to get his kidneys to working again, and he was released from the hospital on February 1st.
A few days later, on February the 4th, the cysts had came back, was bigger, and he was in even more pain that the first time. From there things progressively got worse. He was admitted back to the hospital in Winston-Salem for Bile leakage and an infection. He had to have another surgery to fix the bile leakage, but the stent that was put in did not work. He continued leaking bile, and he was having bad chest pain and trouble breathing. MRI's revealed that Earls entire abdominal cavity had shifted, and it was making things difficult to treat him because they couldn't find his organs under all of the cysts. After waiting a few days, and the bile continuing to leak, the doctors felt it was best to go back in the operating room. They removed the stent because it was bent and creating a blockage. Once the stent was removed, his bilirubin levels started to come down and he was on the right track to being released from the hospital, but then infection set up in his stomach. Winston-Salem felt there was nothing else that they could do, so he was sent to Duke on February 17th.
At Duke, they were able to get him back on the right track to healing, and seemed to get the infection under control. They determined that his liver was starting to fail, but they felt that he would be able to wait for a transplant. After being on a lot of medications and antibiotics, he was finally able to be released from Duke on Feb 23rd, but by Feb 25th he was back at Duke. He had turned completely yellow by this point, and on March 1st, he was put on the liver transplant list. Additionally the infection was getting worse because he had become antibiotic resistant, and he became septic. March 4th he was put into ICU, and on March 8th he was put on life support. He continues to fight for his life every day.
My mom has been by Earls side from day one, and unfortunately she was let go from her job because of it. The bills are piling up and they really could use the money for their vehicle and house payments. Additionally, my mom has been stretching the money that they do have so that she can eat, but she has only been eating once a day to try and conserve their money. She is exhausted mentally and physically. If you feel it in your heart to do something nice for someone, they really could use the money. Even if you can only give a few dollars, it would help and add up. I don't want them to loose their vehicle or have their home foreclosed on. Not to mention the medical bills are adding up as he has had multiple surgeries, and has already been in the hospital 8 weeks.
Please give, and help them out <3
Organizer and beneficiary
Sheena Porter
Organizer
Max Meadows, VA
Darlene Griffey
Beneficiary