medical relief for David and Taelor
Donation protected
In 2007, David and Taelor started their lives together. 2012 was expected to be a promising year for them as Taelor started her final year of graduate school, and David was working a job he loved,however, December of 2012 changed everything. David was experiencing flu-like symptoms for about a week and finally went to see his doctor where he learned that he had Valley Fever. The
illness caused David to be so sick that he lost about 70 pounds and was no longer able to work consistently. Over the next four months, things seemed to be improving until David began having
symptoms of gallbladder failure. After multiple ER visits and testing, he went in on May 20, 2013 for an outpatient procedure to remove his gallbladder. That surgery turned into a nightmare that had David fighting for his life.
The simple surgery turned into major emergency surgery to repair a torn common bile duct and after an eight day uneventful stay at the hospital, David went home. Unfortunately, within
48 hours of being home, David began experiencing excruciating pain and vomiting blood. Taelor rushedhim to the emergency room where he was admitted into the ICU and began receiving blood transfusions. It was 20 hours before the cause of David's bleeding was determined and a transfer to another hospital could be arranged. On June 1st, David was airlifted to a trauma hospital in another city and immediately went in for surgery to stop the bleeding. After spending the night in that ICU unit, a
decision was made by the doctors that he was still in critical condition and he needed to be airlifted to Stanford. Less than 24 hours after his first transfer, David was airlifted to Stanford Hospital and admitted to their ICU unit where he had another surgery to further stop his bleeding. On June 10th David left Stanford and started the process of returning to his normal life.
December 2013, David returned to Stanford for his six month follow-up with high hopes that he would finally be given the "all
clear". The news that David received at that appointment shook everyone to the core. The surgery done in May to repair the torn common bile duct had healed incorrectly. Bile was backing-up into his system causing jaundice and further liver damage. The only option to save his life was another major surgery. One week later, David underwent two different surgeries to have tubes inserted to drain the excess bile in his system and essentially buy time. He was released from Stanford just in time to spend
Christmas and his birthday at home before the major surgery.
On January 13, 2014 David had his most recent and hopefully final surgery where his doctor reconstructed his biliary tree and removed the damaged lobe of his liver. Although his surgeon is confident with the procedure, David still faces a long
and challenging road. He has a three month appointment where he will have to undergo a range of testing which includes a CT, MRI, and blood work that will be repeated at six months, and every year after that for three years. Along with the physical challenges this has caused David, it has also caused him a great financial burden. In 2013 alone, David's bills totaled over $800,000 and although his insurance was a great blessing, his portion of those bills were thousands of dollar; and since his most
recent surgery was in 2014, he is again responsible for a large portion of his bills.
Due to David and Taelor going from a two-income house, to a single-income household for the last year, these bills seem impossible to manage. It is our hope that we can raise funds to help relieve some of this burden. Through this entire process, David has been a tremendous fighter and never once complained and Taelor has been right by his side every moment of everyday. We cannot wait to see David and Taelor
going about their lives as if nothing had happened. Thank you for your help in achieving this!
illness caused David to be so sick that he lost about 70 pounds and was no longer able to work consistently. Over the next four months, things seemed to be improving until David began having
symptoms of gallbladder failure. After multiple ER visits and testing, he went in on May 20, 2013 for an outpatient procedure to remove his gallbladder. That surgery turned into a nightmare that had David fighting for his life.
The simple surgery turned into major emergency surgery to repair a torn common bile duct and after an eight day uneventful stay at the hospital, David went home. Unfortunately, within
48 hours of being home, David began experiencing excruciating pain and vomiting blood. Taelor rushedhim to the emergency room where he was admitted into the ICU and began receiving blood transfusions. It was 20 hours before the cause of David's bleeding was determined and a transfer to another hospital could be arranged. On June 1st, David was airlifted to a trauma hospital in another city and immediately went in for surgery to stop the bleeding. After spending the night in that ICU unit, a
decision was made by the doctors that he was still in critical condition and he needed to be airlifted to Stanford. Less than 24 hours after his first transfer, David was airlifted to Stanford Hospital and admitted to their ICU unit where he had another surgery to further stop his bleeding. On June 10th David left Stanford and started the process of returning to his normal life.
December 2013, David returned to Stanford for his six month follow-up with high hopes that he would finally be given the "all
clear". The news that David received at that appointment shook everyone to the core. The surgery done in May to repair the torn common bile duct had healed incorrectly. Bile was backing-up into his system causing jaundice and further liver damage. The only option to save his life was another major surgery. One week later, David underwent two different surgeries to have tubes inserted to drain the excess bile in his system and essentially buy time. He was released from Stanford just in time to spend
Christmas and his birthday at home before the major surgery.
On January 13, 2014 David had his most recent and hopefully final surgery where his doctor reconstructed his biliary tree and removed the damaged lobe of his liver. Although his surgeon is confident with the procedure, David still faces a long
and challenging road. He has a three month appointment where he will have to undergo a range of testing which includes a CT, MRI, and blood work that will be repeated at six months, and every year after that for three years. Along with the physical challenges this has caused David, it has also caused him a great financial burden. In 2013 alone, David's bills totaled over $800,000 and although his insurance was a great blessing, his portion of those bills were thousands of dollar; and since his most
recent surgery was in 2014, he is again responsible for a large portion of his bills.
Due to David and Taelor going from a two-income house, to a single-income household for the last year, these bills seem impossible to manage. It is our hope that we can raise funds to help relieve some of this burden. Through this entire process, David has been a tremendous fighter and never once complained and Taelor has been right by his side every moment of everyday. We cannot wait to see David and Taelor
going about their lives as if nothing had happened. Thank you for your help in achieving this!
Organizer
Tanna Pekin
Organizer
Upland, CA
