Robs Road to Recovery

My dad, Rob, is one of the strongest men I know. He’s our rock, everyone’s “go-to” guy. He is there whenever we need him, always willing to help. On March 20th the unexpected happened and our family has been turned upside down. My father was rushed into emergency surgery for a perforated esophagus. We were eating family dinner when suddenly he began to choke and tore a hole in his esophagus. The surgeons placed a stent in his esophagus and repaired the tear. Being unable to eat he was placed on a feeding tube. He had a tube in one nostril to feed him and another tube in the other to suction out of his stomach. After that surgery, we were hopeful that the procedure was successful and he was on his way to heal, but that was only the beginning. My Dad developed a high fever and his resting heart rate was 162 bpm, his body was fighting. His team of doctors sent him for extensive testing and realized that due to the tear in his esophagus he had developed a stomach infection which spread outside of his stomach. This caused pockets of infection to form around his lungs leading to a collapsed lung, he was critical. Another emergency surgery was done, this time to place a chest tube in order to drain the infected fluid away from his lungs. My Dad is a strong and stoic man, the pain he went through during this was like nothing he’s ever endured before.

Still fighting the infection he was given several rounds of IV antibiotics but they weren’t enough. Another CAT scan revealed that his chest was still filled with infection and the chest tubes weren’t completely draining. He was rushed into his 3rd surgery where they spent 6 hours thoroughly cleaning out his chest cavity. Three surgeries in less than a week. His body was put through hell and back. After a week of recovering in the hospital they repeated the CAT scan hoping his body had healed enough to be ready to remove the stent. They decided it was time, unfortunately they were wrong. Surgery number 4 to remove the stent lead to another CAT scan and the realization that there was still a hole in his esophagus leading to surgery number 5. They put in another stent. With each surgery we prayed that he would finally be on the road to recovery. Each time we were wrong. Surgery number 6 was performed after his feeding tube damaged the lining of his stomach resulting in him needing a G-tube inserted. Instead of a feeding tube through his nose he now has a gastrostomy tube which is directly in his stomach which will remain in place for a minimum of 2-3 months. Six major surgeries in 3 weeks. Daily chest x-rays, IV medications, an unbelievably long list of complications. He has been through so much but is still fighting with everything he has.

It’s unknown when he will be well enough to come home. It’s unknown if and when he will be able to eat or drink again. We do know that eating will never be the same for him.

This has been such a complicated case and we are so blessed that he had immediate access to medical care to save his life. With such a complicated case none of his journey has been or will be easily fixed.

His medical team has made it very clear that if he is wasn’t so strong and otherwise healthy he wouldn’t still be with us today. He has been out of work for over a month already and has an incredibly long road to recovery ahead of him. He is in construction and we all know what happens when you aren’t able to work in construction.

So here I am asking for your help. My parents are the most generous and loving people and this is the only way I know how to help give back to them. When my dad finally comes home everything about their lives will be different and I want to be able to help them financially. I don’t want my dad to be focused on anything but his recovery. Any contribution will help tremendously. I can’t thank you all enough.

Please pray for my dad and for all of us.

Thank you,

Jacy