On January 6th, 2024, my mother, Abigail Mosteller, was unexpectedly admitted to the hospital following diagnosis of right sided pneumonia complicated by a multiloculated pleural effusion. A tentative diagnosis, later on being confirmed to be a pleural empyema, further complicating my mother’s treatment. 

       It had started as right sided chest pain almost two full weeks before my mother’s admission. I still remember the first time she had mentioned it to me, describing it felt like she had pulled a muscle. Over the next few days and into a full week, no other symptoms had developed, but the pain continued to get worse. Over the counter medication helped but the second they’d wear off, my mother would be in what was the worst pain in her life. 

      Less than 24 hours before my mom’s admission, I went with her to a different emergency room for the pain. It was now a full week that she had been having pain and was now unable to function without taking ibuprofen for it. Hours of waiting and six chest x-rays later, the doctor reported that there seemed to be nothing wrong with her physically and remarked that while something had appeared on her x-rays, it was small enough to not be a cause for concern. He compared to a freckle, telling us that, while it could be something, it’s more than likely nothing. My mom was sent home that night with nothing but the advice of continuing to rest and take ibuprofen for the pain. That was the afternoon of Friday, January 5th. 

       The following night, Liam and I would rush my mom into the emergency room again, the same hospital where she would be admitted to that night, to learn that she was now clinically septic and a generous three days from dying. The pulmonologist who gave us the diagnosis told us that it was one of the worst cases of pneumonia she had seen in her career. It wasn’t until the day my mom would be discharged that her pulmonologist showed the three of us the before and after imaging. We were horrified by the image of her chest from the night she had been admitted, seeing that almost the entirety of her right lung was occupied by white light. Despite all of this, none of us were able to prepare for the reality of her condition. My mom spent the next 12 days admitted to the hospital. 

•  My mom’s lungs before ( right image ) and after ( left image ) treatment. 
  

      

     On Monday morning, she underwent a procedure to have a tube inserted into her pleural space. She’d have the tube inserted for the entirety of her admission in order to drain the infection from her lung. Over those 12 days, my mom completed several rounds of antibiotics, six tPA injections and drained an estimated 9 liters of fluid from her lung, only narrowly avoiding the need for surgery. 

• The first of multiple draining units utilized during the course of my mom’s treatment. This photo was taken on the same day the drain had been inserted and shortly after her first tPA treatment. 

      She’d complete the full course of tPA about a week into her stay and would be cleared by surgical staff only a few days later. On the afternoon of January 17th, my mom was finally able to be discharged. Unfortunately, my mom’s return home has been mostly bittersweet. 

      In the winter of 2022, my parents divorced after it was having an emotional affair with a coworker. Leaving my mom, who had been a stay at home parent for almost two decades until then, with no warning. Since then, my mother has been tirelessly working to get and then keep herself on her own two feet and to provide for her family, most importantly her children. My mom’s hard work has given her the ability to rent her own apartment, afford her first new car and provide for both of my little brother’s who still live with her. She was able to do these things because of the 65+ hours she’d work, never missing a shift, pulling countless doubles and several hours of overtime. But she can’t do those things any time soon, and possibly never again. 

      She has permanent damage to her lung due to the infection and has been warned that she may have permanent volume loss in her lung, meaning irreversible changes to her breathing. Her extended stay in the hospital has also been followed by several expensive medical bills due to the several tests, images and treatments she received. The impact of these bills is worsened by the fact that my mom received no paid sick leave from her employer and was forced to use her vacation time to cover only part of her unexpected leave, which left the other half of that time off unpaid, leaving her months behind on bills and no money to cover her medical costs. 

      Although we’re all incredibly grateful for my mom’s recovery and acknowledge daily that we’re lucky that she is still alive and well at all, we want nothing but the best for her both physically and mentally. We believe that providing her with the support to close this difficult chapter of her life is essential in accomplishing this. Any amount of help and support will be greatly appreciated by all of us. 

                      

                    Thank you so very much.