Holly Dunn needs our help: cancer and long Covid

In 2022, you were part of a special group of people who contributed more than $44,000 here on GoFundMe to support Bill and Holly Dunn, who urgently needed financial assistance as they battled Holly’s long COVID. Bill and Holly deeply appreciated your gifts and have used them frugally.

But, as you can imagine, medical costs and living expenses have quickly drained those funds.

Holly is making progress in her battle against long COVID– but it is an excruciatingly slow journey. And now, in the middle of her COVID recovery, she faces a new cancer health crisis.

Holly has just been diagnosed with uterine and ovarian cancer. A complete hysterectomy is planned just as soon as Holly’s doctors clear her for surgery.

It is likely the cancer surgery will likely slow Holly’s long-COVID recovery further.

That means that her goal of returning to work faces further delays. It also means that Bill will continue to be her primary caregiver, meaning he is unable to work as well.

With the looming cutoff of Holly’s long-term disability insurance payments, it’s time for us to rally around Bill and Holly again. They continue to live modestly in a small apartment located near the medical facilities where Holly receives treatment. They need two things:

You can help Bill and Holly by making a gift on this GoFundMe page. The money goes directly to them. No one else has access. NOTE: The running total on this page shows the $44,000 raised last year. As mentioned above, those funds are depleted and we need to raise about $40,000 more. I know that seems like a lot of money, but the medical bills and basic living expenses are unending.

Thank you for considering a gift to support Holly and Bill during this extremely difficult time. And thank you for your continuing prayers for this precious family.

Steve Grissom

Campaign Organizer

PS: I’m sure many of you are interested in Holly’s progress in overcoming long-COVID. Below is an update from Bill describing the progress she’s made and the challenges she faces. Following Bill’s information, you can read our initial GoFundMe appeal for even more detail on the cascade of events that created the financial and life crisis Bill and Holly now face.

From Bill:

Sometimes a long journey becomes longer

We are trusting the Lord. We rely on your prayers.

We love you all,

Holly and Bill

_____________________________________________________________________

For your reference, we've reproduced the original GoFundMe appeal from 2022 below:

 

My name is Steve Grissom, a friend of Bill and Holly Dunn. I'm asking you to consider donating to help pay living expenses for Bill and Holly. Their story is heartbreaking. They've cared for so many people over the years, and now they need our help.

 

Holly contracted COVID in August of 2020 while serving as a doctor in the Emergency Department of an Alabama hospital. Her infection came early in the pandemic, before we had vaccines and other medicines.

 

Sadly, after treating so many other people, her case evolved into "long COVID."

 

For months, Holly could not even get out of bed and could barely function. At one point, her kidneys failed and she had to be placed on emergency dialysis. Bill was her caregiver. Slowly, Holly saw slight improvement, but she cannot work and has very limited physical stamina.

 

In December of 2020, they had the opportunity to enroll Holly in a program for COVID long-haul patients. That required Bill and Holly to relocate to Houston to receive care from the clinic that specializes in treating long-haul COVID patients.

 

Because Bill is caring for Holly, he can't work either, putting a huge strain on their finances. They sold their home in Alabama and have been living on the equity from that sale and their savings. That money is running out.

 

The treatment continues, and Holly is gaining ground in very small, incremental steps. There appears to be no near-term prospect for either Bill or Holly to be able to work and Holly will continue to need treatment for months to come, while Bill remains her primary caregiver. You can see a more comprehensive list of the symptoms and issues Holly is dealing with in the list below

 

To add to the load they are carrying, they learned that the storage facility in Alabama had a water leak. Many of their belongings were destroyed, damaged or infested with mold.

 

I've designed this fundraiser to anticipate Bill and Holly will need support for at least the next year. They've been living in a small apartment in Houston in a special, subsidized program for long-term patients. That subsidy has just ended, so they will have to relocate to a market-rate apartment near the clinic where Holly receives treatments. Rents in Houston are VERY expensive. We've estimated that they will need at least $80,000 for rent, living expenses and medical expenses over the next 12 months.

 

Again, let me stress that Bill and Holly are running out of personal funds. They've all but drained their life savings, home equity and personal bank accounts.

 

 

 

 

The pictures above show Bill and Holly with their grandson Taylor and daughter Jesse before Holly contracted COVID. If you love this couple as much as I do, or if they have ministered to you sometime in the past, I'm asking you to pray about generously supporting them in their time of need.

 

And, also– please spread the word about this need. Use the "share" button to post this fundraiser on social media, or send the information by email to your friends. Because Bill served as a pastor in several churches, you probably know someone who knows Bill and Holly as well.

 

MORE INFORMATION

 

The summary below was prepared by Holly's daughter Jess as a briefing of Holly's broad range of symptoms for doctors treating Holly.

 

Holly Dunn M.D.,F.A.C.

 

PRE COVID:

• Attending ER MD and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Alabama’s

largest university Medical Hospital

• Used to working in hospitals on feet 12+ hours/Day both day and night for past 30

plus years! (Up until August)

 

POST COVID: New Onset Debilitating SYMPTOMS

At REST: Maintains Supine position 20 hours each day for body to feel slightly improved.

However, these symptoms remain each day while “At Rest”:

COVID fog and other issues

• During normal conversation a switch clicks and the subject of conversation is suddenly gone and irretrievable

• Word smithing is harder than normal

• Short term recall present but is delayed

• Long term recall can be great one week. Other weeks there are days with “ loops of loss” no recall.

• Balance: High fall risk. Balance is unreliable and frequently not present.

• Body swelling is extreme with pitting edema to extremities. Lasix is helping but as you can see- the problem remains

• Feet constantly sore. Legs feel like 80 pounds each

• Flaky peeling skin

• Weight gain- rapid, uncontrolled, as much as 20 pounds in 1 week

• Onset insulin-dependent diabetes

• Hip pain