Chris's Medical Fund
Donation protected
The morning of July 8th, Chris came rushing upstairs telling me to put my shoes on while I was munching on my cereal before work. I was confused because I did not need to leave for work for another hour or so, and the he told me we needed to go to the hospital. At this moment, I started freaking out. I thought maybe one of his parents had been in an accident but nope, he told me his lung collapsed.
For those of you who have known Cookie for a while, you know that about five years ago, he had a spontaneous pneumothorax (collapsed lung for us not so sciencey folks) and with that episode, he was in and out of the hospital in three days. Well, not this time. After several days and two new tubes in his chest, there was an obvious air leak still not closing properly. After a little over a week, the decision was made to surgically fix it.
On Monday, July 17th, Chris went under the knife for the first time in his life. The surgeon made three small incisions on his side, then went in and got to work! He was able to successfully remove a bleb (a blister that had formed on his lung), stapled off the areas that were leaking air, and scrapped the inside of his chest wall so that when those areas healed, the scar tissue would form a link between the membrane in his chest and the lung it encases.
We are now on day three of his recovery from the surgery and it sounds like the tube in his chest that is draining excess fluids will be removed sometime today! He has been able to control his doses of pain medicine post-op so that has been helping wonderfully. He is eating well and up and walking around quite frequently. At the rate he is going, it looks like we will be able to bring him home sometime Friday or Saturday! After two long, exhausting, stressful, and rather painful weeks in the hospital, we are both more than ready to be home and sleeping in our own bed.
The most stressful part about this stay, as with any long stay in a hospital, is the bill that will be waiting for us once we are out. Chris was uninsured at the time it happened, but was able to fill out an application for health insurance in the ER when I brought him in. As soon, assuming he is, accepted by the insurance company, a great deal of monetary support will be given, but we all know that it is rare for health insurance to cover ALL of a stay/visit to the hospital. Which is why I am reaching out to you, the people who have shown us an undying amount of love and support from the beginning. Even if you are only able to donate a couple of dollars, every amount is appreciated and welcomed; the small amounts add up eventually! All money donated will go directly towards paying off Chris's medical bill and other hardships that have popped up because of this two week stay.
If you would like to pop in and say hi, we are at Regions Hospital (Jackson St. location) in the South section on the 7th floor. Just ask at the nurse’s station which room he is in and come say hi!
I will continue posting updates on here and on Facebook. I seriously cannot thank you all enough for the amount of support you have already shown us; the battle is not over yet but the sun is definitely peaking over the horizon.
For those of you who have known Cookie for a while, you know that about five years ago, he had a spontaneous pneumothorax (collapsed lung for us not so sciencey folks) and with that episode, he was in and out of the hospital in three days. Well, not this time. After several days and two new tubes in his chest, there was an obvious air leak still not closing properly. After a little over a week, the decision was made to surgically fix it.
On Monday, July 17th, Chris went under the knife for the first time in his life. The surgeon made three small incisions on his side, then went in and got to work! He was able to successfully remove a bleb (a blister that had formed on his lung), stapled off the areas that were leaking air, and scrapped the inside of his chest wall so that when those areas healed, the scar tissue would form a link between the membrane in his chest and the lung it encases.
We are now on day three of his recovery from the surgery and it sounds like the tube in his chest that is draining excess fluids will be removed sometime today! He has been able to control his doses of pain medicine post-op so that has been helping wonderfully. He is eating well and up and walking around quite frequently. At the rate he is going, it looks like we will be able to bring him home sometime Friday or Saturday! After two long, exhausting, stressful, and rather painful weeks in the hospital, we are both more than ready to be home and sleeping in our own bed.
The most stressful part about this stay, as with any long stay in a hospital, is the bill that will be waiting for us once we are out. Chris was uninsured at the time it happened, but was able to fill out an application for health insurance in the ER when I brought him in. As soon, assuming he is, accepted by the insurance company, a great deal of monetary support will be given, but we all know that it is rare for health insurance to cover ALL of a stay/visit to the hospital. Which is why I am reaching out to you, the people who have shown us an undying amount of love and support from the beginning. Even if you are only able to donate a couple of dollars, every amount is appreciated and welcomed; the small amounts add up eventually! All money donated will go directly towards paying off Chris's medical bill and other hardships that have popped up because of this two week stay.
If you would like to pop in and say hi, we are at Regions Hospital (Jackson St. location) in the South section on the 7th floor. Just ask at the nurse’s station which room he is in and come say hi!
I will continue posting updates on here and on Facebook. I seriously cannot thank you all enough for the amount of support you have already shown us; the battle is not over yet but the sun is definitely peaking over the horizon.
Organizer
Rebecca Heiam
Organizer
Inver Grove Heights, MN
