Deborah Doty Medical Fund

My mother....she is loving, kind, patient, caring, selfless, the best example of what a mother should be. She was almost taken from my sister and I in 2012, but God was great enough to grant us more time with her. My mother is the most deserving person you could ever imagine to help. I have never known her not to help any person who has ever reached out to her for it. After all the giving my mother has done, it is time that I try and give back what I can, one way or another. 

****If you want the short version, my mother could not afford health insurance due to previously having cancer, and is now going to need longterm, inpatient medical care. She will not ever be able to work again, and my father will be the sole provider. They are not only responsible for their current bills, which they have never lived above their means, but now they will responsible for thousands of dollars of medical bills. If we cannot get some sort of support, I cannot provide my mother with the best, or even basic medical care she will need.****

***Long Version***
Her journey that has spiraled out of control began in the spring of 2012. She went to the OBGYN for a check up in February of 2012 and was told everything was normal. She found out her job was moving locations and she would be losing her health insurance soon. She went back to the OBGYN in May of 2012, one last time, and was diagnosed with uteran cancer, being informed she had a tumor about the size of a grapefruit on her uterus. All of this had developed in such a short amount of time, my whole family, and even her closest friends, were shocked. 

Summer of 2012 my mother had a full hysterectomy, with her appendix, and some of her lymphnodes, removed to take care of the cancer. She went through extensive, internal radiation that August. There were lots of tears, sadness, turmoil, and heartbreak throughout this time. But the GREAT Lord got us through it. (My mother was able to keep her health insurance long enough that it covered the surgery and most of the radiation. However, she lost her health insurance in approximately November of 2012.)

After the radiation, about two years later,  2014, my mom, and even my family and I, began to notice swelling. Her left leg and foot would get abnormally large, but she would prop it up and it would get better. We all chalked it up to the long term effects of radiation and loosing so many lymph nodes.

During this time, (1 1/2 years after losing her job), my mother was unemployed and denied benefits at some parts of this span. No one wanted to hire my mother due to her past medical history....However, 2014 brought the best news since the surgery; she had found a job!! (Thank you Johnny and Brenda, if you see this! :) Even though she was now employed, she couldn't afford health insurance due to her complex medical history, and recent cancer. 

Moving forward. My mother was a very dedicated worker. She always had been and despite feeling, well, not her best, she managed to get up and go to work, each and every day. There was a period in which my father was unemployed and her income was the only one they had. Thus stated, my mother would go to work nauseated, unable to have bowel movements for extended periods, unable to eat, vomiting due to simply brushing her teeth, having tooth pain due to their fragility from the radiation...and the list goes on. No one thought twice about the swelling, not even when it began affecting her face and abdomen. 

Well, here we are, September of 2016. My mother is lying in a hospital bed next to me, hooked to multiple IV's, unable to lift herself or walk, unable to carry on a coherent conversation, unable to breathe on her own without fear her oxygen will go so low she will not recover. Here we are, finding out that all that swelling, and all those symptoms, was liver failure all along. 

So, lets hit the points of concern:
My mother went in Thursday night due to instability, inability to walk, and appearing jaundice and swollen. 
She went to Athens Regional to have scar tissue removed, and instead, ended up having to be given 2 pints of blood due to low hemoglobin. The two pints of blood caused her a borderline allergic reaction, causing her hemoglobin to drop lower and blood pressure to drop. This brings us to Saturday morning when we were told that my mothers sodium was beyond low, her hemoglobin was low, her blood pressure was super low, her oxygen level was low, and her ammonia was high. She was in liver failure and had acute trauma to her liver, that we still don't know if it is cancer, or a benign tumor, or what it is. She has a blockage in her kidney, and they both go back and forth from doing good, to performing poorly. She has fluid on her lungs preventing any surgery to be done. She has bleeding internally, likely from veins being restricted due to the amount of pressure. She is unable to consistently stay awake or carry on a typical conversation due to her high ammonia levels. 

Her underlying problem is liver failure, with acute trauma, and kidney blockage, possible failure. She needs surgery on her liver, kidney, and stomach in order to survive. In order for her to receive the surgery her blood panels (all the items I listed that were low earlier) have to be right before they can put her to sleep. Even when they put her to sleep there is the possibility she may be comatosed afterwards, despite their best efforts.

My mother is in desperate need of long term medical care. My father is having to take time off work to be with her due to the day by day instability of my mothers current situation. There is gas money, food, medical bills, regular basic necessities that will need to be paid for. My mother is unable to work and will have to begin collecting SSI/Disability when she is released. This will be a huge lifestyle change for them. On top of all of that, they will now encounter thousands of dollars. Any amount that you are able to provide will be appreciated BEYOND measure. God gave my mom back to me once, and I know he will do it again!