Support for Greg Titsworth
In late June, Greg Titsworth was diagnosed with COVID after travelling to Arizona for the unexpected death of his mother. When he was finally admitted to the ICU, he was in acute respiratory distress (ARDS), acute kidney failure and had pneumonia. After about a week on the ventilator, the decision was made to try ECMO to save his life. ECMO is a lung bypass process that does the work of the lungs, allowing the body to heal. Initially, Greg's odds were about 25% that he would live. Since July 1 he has also been unconscious (medically induced) and while he has moments of being more alert, he will likely remain hospitalized for several more weeks, if not a month or more. When he is able to be discharged, Greg is looking at a very long road to recovery, including time in a rehab facility to regain his health and strength. The long term side effects of COVID are significant and it is very likely Greg will be unable to work to support himself for 3-6 months, perhaps longer. It is also unclear to what extent Greg will have liability related to his hospital care and treatment, although every effort will be made to get financial assistance to help with these bills.
During all of this, Greg's amazing 21 year daughter Savanna has stepped in to manage his healthcare and financial decisions. Because Greg was not able to plan ahead, Savanna had to hire an attorney to assist with a conservatorship for her father. She has recently taken some extended time from her job to prioritize her own health as she manages her father's care.
I know things are hard for so many right now, but if you can help a little to give this family some financial support, it will be so appreciated. If you are unable to help directly, please share this GoFundMe with your friends.
Funds raised will be used to pay Greg's bills while he is unable to work, including any patient responsibility related to his hospitalization and rehab care. Available funds will also assist in the cost of the conservatorship, and to reimburse Savanna for any out-of-pocket costs she's incurred while taking care of her dad.
Update 7/26/21: For a brief period Greg was taken off of ECMO with the doctors thinking he had been showing improvements, however Greg developed a staph infection which caused quite a few problems and he needed to be put back under complete sedation for a while and have ECMO re-administered
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To those who are interested in using venmo instead of go-fund-me, Savanna's venmo is: @Heywhatsupitsme
UPDATE 8-15-21
Hi, this is Greg, the luckiest person in America in 2021!! How lucky? How's this for a luck story:
-Got sick on a Saturday. Figured it was a cold, didn't take it seriously.
-Went to the ER on Thursday. They said it was COVID. Go home, kid, and take more vitamin D.
-Friday I was so delirious I don't even remember it. Ambbulance ride, hey this guy has kidney failure, one more day and he would be dead.
-They out me on a ventilator and worked on my kidneys while COVID ravaged my lungs. I was sedated the entire time. Expecteed survival rate about 20%.
- After about 6 days they put me on ECMO. This is full blown life support, heart and lung machine. This is a last step before "pulling the plug". Odds of survival jump to 50% but drop daily.
- My daughter is next of kin. She is navigating the legal system for the first time ever (to become conservator), asking people what should she do? Luckily, she chose to let me live!
- After NINE DAYS on ECMO they pulled me off.They figured out that I was still "in there", but now I have a staph infection. They put me BACK on ECMO and started antibiotics.
- I developed two blood clots in my neck. Medicine started.
- Pulled off ECMO after 8 more days, 17 days total.
- Still have all mental capacity.
- Physical recovery going very well.
I think I'm the luckiest person in America this year.
I've heard that there are a lot of people praying for me. I want to send out a giant THANK YOU to everyone for your prayers!
FINAL UPDATE:
Greg is out of the hospital and off of oxygen. The recovery has been outstanding, now to catch up with "life". The move to Phoenix will take place next week, then the search for a job begins.
A huge THANK YOU! to everyone who donated and/or prayed for Greg!
