Hello, my name is Megan...

As some of you may know and for those of you that don’t, my mom Tammy Oakes-Phillips, has been very ill for the past few months (Starting in August), without a diagnosis. Within the past month and a half she has finally gotten some answers. She has been diagnosed with Severe Diverticulitis of the large intestine with perforation. Not only was it very infected, but highly inflamed. This is also extremely painful for her. She’s hasn’t hardly been able to eat for months, which has caused malnutrition and a tremendous amount of weight-loss.

On December 31st, she had to pay out of pocket for a private CT scan, as with the waitlist for Central Alberta, she otherwise wouldn’t have gotten her scan until January 2026. Her situation became way too serious to be able to wait for that.

2 days later - January 2 her doctor called and told her she needed to go to the hospital ASAP to talk with the surgeon on shift. No answers as to why, or what the scan said at this point. They then admitted her when they realized she had a condition called Fistula, and wanted to do surgery. On January 8th they decided to send her home as they had planned to schedule her for her surgery later in the month.

January 21st, she returned to the hospital to have another CT scan done as requested by the doctor the next morning they finally did her scan after sitting in ER waiting all night. After looking at the results they realized how serious her situation truly was.

Between January 22nd and 27th she remained admitted and had another pelvic ultrasound done as well as another CT scan. That CT scan was to mark where she was suppose to have a drain tube put in to drain the abscess she had on her colon. After that CT, they found that they were no longer filled with fluid and they were filled with air, so she didn’t have to get the drain put in.

February 3rd she had yet ANOTHER CT scan done to make sure of things, which was then they decided she was going in for surgery in the next couple of days.

On February 5th she underwent a 5.5 - 6 hour surgery to have part of her colon and infection removed, at which time during the surgery they noticed the inflammation had attached itself to other areas. They had to remove the infected area, do an appendectomy to remove her appendix, removed her fallopian tube, found another area of the colon that had hardened and wasn’t functioning and also repair her bladder with skin from her belly area.

After surgery, we found out the if she wouldn’t have been on antibiotics like she was, she only would’ve had maybe another week before we would have died, as her appendix had grown to the inflammation of her colon. Healing also didn’t go as smooth as planned as there were more complications that happened post-op. She threw up multiple times a day, everyday (With the exception of one day), she couldn’t handle so much as water in her system.

Finally by February 11th, after I personally asked the nurses when that they were going to look into WHY she was throwing up so much as it was very excessive and taking everything out of her after already going through such a major surgery. They sent her for a chest and abdominal x-ray to see what was going on inside, which confirmed that there was something going on. Later the same night they sent her for another CT scan. As it turned out, she had a ileus (partial blockage).

Over the next couple of days, things started passing on their own through her ostomy bag finally and she was no longer throwing up. February 13th, they did a final CT cystogram to make sure she had no internal bladder leaks. All of which came back good so they removed her catheter the following day. February 15th, she finally got to return home with the help of home care.

As a result of everything going on since the beginning of January and my mom being in the hospital for almost a month and a half straight (minus a week), Milt (my dad), having to take unpaid time off work for weeks, the gas expense going back and forth, plus me living an hour and a half away, parking expense ($19 a day), fast food/vending machine drinks and snacks, as I’m sure you could imagine has put an extreme financial strain on our family.

On top of it all, my family and myself are dealing with my emotional support dog becoming ill and diagnosed with congestive heart disease at the same time as all of this happening. If you know me or anything about me, you know that my mom and my dog are my best friends and biggest supports. So this has overall been the most mentally, physically, emotionally, and financially challenging things I/we have ever faced.

If you personally know us, you know my family has never been ones to ask for help ever, and has always been the type that just try their best to do the right thing, give back and help everyone, never asking for anything in return. So now I’m reaching out in hopes that maybe the community, family and friends could help give back for her. She is the strongest woman I know, and deserves to feel that support, even just once.

Even if you can’t donate, even just a share, or a positive message, any help would be greatly appreciated during this difficult time. Please keep my mom and our family in your prayers.

Thank you for taking the time to read and God bless.

For E Transfer donations: [email redacted] or [email redacted]

Cashapp donations:

Meganoakes95 or crystalrose966