On July 16th my mother was rushed to the ER with severe pain in her right leg. After a few scans and consults it was discovered that an infection, stemming from her pre-existing condition (HS), had spread down her leg, nearly to the bone. She was immediately air lifted from Frisbee to Maine Med, where they performed 2 emergency surgeries in 3 days to remove the infection and necrosis in her thigh. This left her with a large, semi-open wound that starts at her hip and goes down to her knee.

While in the SCU at Maine Med her surgeon and medical team discovered that the infection had also spread to her internal organs, and two weeks into her stay they opted to perform a third surgery to redirect her upper intestine (something called an Ileostomy. Similar to a colostomy, but less common).

During her stay at Maine Med she lost a significant amount of weight, and at one point they decided to insert a PIC line into her heart to ensure her body was getting enough nutrition to properly heal.

On August 19th the medical team determined that her progress was moving in the right direction, and she was moved to a rehabilitation center closer to home. Ideally, she will be recovering there for a minimum of 30 days, while she regains the strength to walk on her own and her body fights to heal the wounds left from her surgeries.

Unfortunately, Medicaid will only cover her stay until Sept 9th, at which point the out of pocket cost to remain at the center is $210 a day. She undoubtedly has accrued medical bills with Maine Med and Frisbee in the past month as well, so upon hearing the news that she will have to pay out of pocket to remain in the rehabilitation center she decided that she would have to leave on the 8th.

My mother would never ask anyone other than family for help, so I'm doing it on her behalf. Her wound care requires dressing changes 3 times a day (for the smaller one) and 3 times a week (for the large one on her leg) that she cannot perform by herself. She can stand up, with the help of a walker or person to stabilize her, but she can barely walk. She needs to have as much time as necessary under nurse care in order for her to get back to good health, and leaving the rehab center prematurely will only hurt her chances at a full recovery.

Any and all help you can provide at this difficult juncture in her healing process will not only be appreciated, but will take a significant amount of stress and worry off of her already spinning mind.

If you can help, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you cannot, but wouldn't mind sharing this in case someone else might be able to, I would be very grateful.

Thank you to everyone who has continued to support me and check in on mom through this unexpected experience.