Transfer to AR and Medical Bills

My name is Bryan Brown. My wife Amy and I were married on June 9th 2012, and six months later we moved to Fort Worth, TX. We have lived here for just over a year. At the beginning of January Amy became sick, she was showing flu like symptoms and was fighting a high fever. On Wednesday January 8th I took Amy to the emergency room with a 104.3 fever. They diagnosed her with pneumonia in both lungs. By Sunday the doctors made the decision to put Amy under sedation and have her on a breathing tube. After a couple days the hospital staff attempted to bring her out of sedation, after she did not wake up the doctors ordered a CT scan and MRI and discovered the Amy had suffered from a stroke on the back side of her brain. Since the initial stroke Amy has suffered from two additional strokes, one of which being on the left side of her brain. The doctors did not think that Amy was going to last very long and were talking to me about the possibilities of turning the breathing machine off and letting her go... Needless to say that is a very difficult pill to swallow. The idea of my 28 year old wife passing away after being married for a year and a half is something that I could have never prepared for. After a lot of support from friends and family, and spending several hours joined together in prayer, we have begun to see improvement. Amy is now off of all anti-biotics and most medication, the only medication that she is currently on is blood thinners to prevent any additional strokes. Amy now has a tracheotomy collar and a feeding tube, she is also breathing on her own and completely off of the breathing machine. She is still running a fever which isn't uncommon for patients who have suffered from a stroke, but the doctors are now talking about discharging Amy to a long term acute care (LTAC) facility. At the LTAC facility they will be able to continue to monitor and care for her with the hope that she will eventually wake up and be able to begin rehabilitation. The doctors say that they believe the damage to her brain is extensive, but at the same time the doctors were not very hopeful that she would ever be able to breath on her own again. Since Amy and I have only lived in Texas for a year, we are going to transfer her back to Arkansas where she will be closer to family. There lies our next major obstacle. Since the insurance company does not believe that it is a medical emergency to transfer Amy to Arkansas, they are not going to cover any of the transfer cost. After making several calls myself and working with Heather (our amazing social worker at the hospital) we have found that we will be able to get Amy back to Arkansas. So far between medical bills and transporting Amy to Arkansas we have approximately $17,000 of medical expenses. Several people, including Amy's work, have made very generous donations to help Amy get home, and to assist with her medical bills. I am creating this site at the request of the individuals who would like an easier way to help out. Amy has touched the lives of so many people with her spunky, positive attitude, and spontaneous dancing. I have been completely overwhelmed by the amount of support that I have received from friends, family, and even people who had only met Amy a couple of times. If you would like to help out financially it will be a huge blessing to our family. But more than anything please keep Amy in your prayers. The doctors have given Amy a 1% chance of a meaningful recovery. Right now we are praying for a miracle and for Amy to be that 1%. We have many difficult days ahead of us, but right now we are taking it one day at a time, and one obstacle at a time. Thank you for your help, and more importantly, thank you for your prayers.


-Bryan Brown