Bert Vinson Recovery Expenses
Donation protected
For those of you that don’t know, 6 weeks ago this Tuesday my mom took my dad off of the island to urgent care. He had been ill, having trouble sleeping and trouble breathing. Once there they found two masses in his throat, the masses, which have still not been identified, were restricting his breathing, so much so, he was put on a ventilator. They decided to surgically remove the masses and sent him down to Swedish hospital to have the surgery.
The doctors at Swedish decided at the last minute not to do the surgery because the masses were shrinking. This seemed like a good thing, the down side he still couldn’t breath on his own. They decided to do a tracheotomy, in the hopes that this would allow my father the breathing help he needs but also allow him to speak.
The few weeks following the tracheotomy were especially hard, they had to keep him sedated to avoid him trying to pull the trach out. When awake he was not aware of where he was and suffered what they were calling ICU psychosis.
We finally have my sweet funny father lucid and able to communicate. But he has a long road to recovery ahead. He is currently at Swedish, waiting on a space at a longer term care facility, where they can care for him, and teach him to swallow and breath again on his own.
If you know my father, you know this is not an easy thing for me to do, ask for help especially financial help. My mother has been out of work by my fathers side through most of this process, aside from the couple of short breaks she received from my Uncle Fred. The financial stress that all of this has caused is weighing on all of us. We are not at all sure of the sheer breadth of the medical bills, but trying to keep two household afloat is weighing heavily on all of us.
We understand and greatly appreciate that not all of us have the ability to help financially. Please know that all help and happy thoughts mean the world to all of us.
The doctors at Swedish decided at the last minute not to do the surgery because the masses were shrinking. This seemed like a good thing, the down side he still couldn’t breath on his own. They decided to do a tracheotomy, in the hopes that this would allow my father the breathing help he needs but also allow him to speak.
The few weeks following the tracheotomy were especially hard, they had to keep him sedated to avoid him trying to pull the trach out. When awake he was not aware of where he was and suffered what they were calling ICU psychosis.
We finally have my sweet funny father lucid and able to communicate. But he has a long road to recovery ahead. He is currently at Swedish, waiting on a space at a longer term care facility, where they can care for him, and teach him to swallow and breath again on his own.
If you know my father, you know this is not an easy thing for me to do, ask for help especially financial help. My mother has been out of work by my fathers side through most of this process, aside from the couple of short breaks she received from my Uncle Fred. The financial stress that all of this has caused is weighing on all of us. We are not at all sure of the sheer breadth of the medical bills, but trying to keep two household afloat is weighing heavily on all of us.
We understand and greatly appreciate that not all of us have the ability to help financially. Please know that all help and happy thoughts mean the world to all of us.
Organizer
Maggie Vinson
Organizer
Eastsound, WA
