Ali's recovery from life support

Hi there. My name is Trisha and I am fundraising for my stepbrother Josh and his partner Ali.

29 year old Ali Elizabeth Mcaree, born April.3rd, 1993, was admitted to Peter Lougheed intensive care unit December 14th, 2022 and transferred via ambulance to Foothills medical centre cardiac intensive care unit the same day. She remained in the foothills cardiac intensive care unit until December 28th, and was then transferred back to the Peter Lougheed intensive care where she remains.

Josh took Ali to the hospital in the early hours of December 14th when he awoke to her pulling herself onto his chest. He could see and hear that something was terribly wrong. The medical personnel suspected this started with the common cold which turned into influenza, then to pneumonia, then to a staph infection in her lungs, which traveled into her blood.

Apon arrival to the hospital, Ali’s body started to shut down and she was immediately put on life support and put in the ICU. Josh was locked in a room and was told they needed to put Ali on a ventilator. Within minutes the door opened and he was introduced to an Alberta health social worker, and was informed to call family and friends, to rush them to the hospital.

When gathered, they were all told, the only chance of Ali making it was to be transferred to the foothills hospital where they could hook up an ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) machine to her heart, to oxygenate her blood and keep her alive. Ali made the trip and was immediately put into the cardiac intensive care unit and stabilized, but later they were told again Ali wasn’t going to make it. Josh questioned the doctors about why the ECMO machine had not been hooked up yet, and were told that the doctors didn’t do it, because they didn’t believe she would even make it to the operating room to perform the surgery to hook the lines to her heart. The family was in shock and as a group all agreed with josh that it was her only chance to live.

Ali’s heart was successfully hooked up to the ECMO machine. Only time would tell if Ali’s heart would accept the ECMO machine and thankfully it did. This went on for over a week and the family was warned several times she wasn’t going to make it but they stayed positive.

They were then told doctors needed to disconnect the ECMO machine from her heart and connect it to her lungs and that the procedure was extremely dangerous. The operation went well, but with blood loss. Ali continued to be on the brink of survival.

Josh asked one of the doctors, “What are the odds? I can’t take this anymore,” and the doctor replied that since 2019 they had only had one ECMO survivor from someone in Ali’s condition. Josh was told that this was the highest form of life support on the planet and for Ali to have made it thus far it was incredible.

A few days later Ali kept improving and the doctors wanted to take Ali off the ECMO machine, as it’s only good to get organs to a point, and then it can only do damage. There was going to be another operation to remove the ECMO from Ali’s lungs. The family was warned again due to the blood thinners that complications that can occur, but once again Ali pulled through and the surgery was a success.

The nurses all explained to the family that if they had ever seen a Christmas miracle that it was Ali. She was then transferred back to the Peter Lougheed medical center ICU for recovery. Within a few days the family was told they were going to take Ali off the last form of life support, and see if her body would adjust off of the ventilator. They pulled the ventilator and took Ali out of her induced coma. On New Year’s Eve Ali woke up :-) She looked at Josh and started crying. When she eventually heard that a GoFundMe was being started for her, she cried again.

Ali is currently in the ICU where she is making slow progress, and even starting physio therapy to get some of her structural muscles back to perform simple tasks such as holding a cup and sipping water. The doctors are saying it’s going to be a hard long recovery in excess of over a year to be able to function normally, and years to be back to where she was. Ali and josh take care of four children and a dog. Both Ali and Josh were working full time before her health failed. Josh has not left Ali’s side since day 1 and therefore has not been at work. Ali and josh would be using donations for travel, home care, help with joint lost wages and for any special equipment and services Ali is going to need for the long recovery ahead.

If you can find it in your heart and your wallet to help this couple out, it would mean the world to them. Every little bit counts. If you prefer e-transfer, donations can be made to [email redacted].

May the gods bless you, and please remember to treasure your own health and that of your loved ones every day. xoxo