Taylor, Brianna and their unborn child

Hello everybody, I can't believe I find myself sitting here about to tell the world the story of what we are going through, what we have gone through and what we still will endure. The worst part is we have no idea where this nightmare will lead us, when it will end and what the outcome will be. We're living our lives minute by minute, hour by hour and day by day. Here is the story of Taylor, Brianna, their unborn son and their/our nightmare.

Taylor is a vibrant young man with a heart of gold. He loves helping people with projects, collecting unique rocks and exploring any and all outdoor activities. He is a loving son, brother, uncle and friend. But nothing is more significant to him than the love of his life, Brianna. Then his world became much brighter when they found out they were expecting a son in March. With his bachelor's degree only a year away, his world had come together in a joyous way he could never have imagined, then the unimaginable happened!

Taylor had been complaining for months about issues that he was having, most importantly, chest pain. They went to multiple places with his concern, and he was turned away by all of them, saying that he was "fine"; he had nothing to worry about. They went to his primary doctor, Urgent Care, the ER and the cardiologist. Nobody listened to what he was saying; they all dismissed him. He's young; he's healthy; you're fine. Fast forward to October 31st. They flew to Hawaii for Taylor's sister's wedding and returned on November 7th. When they arrived back in Arizona, they were both sick with different symptoms. Brianna had symptoms that were more like the common cold, including congestion, stuffy nose, headaches, etc. Taylor had symptoms that were more like the flu, including stomach issues, fever, and body aches, and he complained of chest pain. Brianna started to feel better as the days progressed, but Taylor was feeling worse and worse. November 13th, Taylor was in bad shape. He was walking around the house moaning and groaning, saying how much pain he was in. Taylor was taking Tylenol cold medicine (liquid form); initially, we thought Taylor had the flu. He had tested for Covid several times at this point, and the tests came back negative.

On Tuesday the 15th, they went to hospital # 1 and were dismissed six to seven hours later, saying he was fine. Later that evening, they went up to hospital # 2 with the same complaint, hoping they would find something or do something different than the first hospital. The staff ran some blood work, did a chest x-ray and gave him morphine. I want to say it was around 8-9 pm when they gave him the morphine. Around 2 am, he was unaware of where he was, who he was, and who Brianna was. He was very agitated and just wanted to leave, as he didn't know what was happening. He pulled out his tubes and walked out of the hospital. They went home, and the rest of the night went downhill. An ambulance was called early the following day, and they transferred him to hospital # 3. The hospital took his blood (again) and did some tests (again), but they weren't taking his condition seriously. I don't remember if it was Wednesday or Thursday, but his situation had deteriorated, and he was now moved into ICU in critical condition. He exhibited extreme body pain, high fevers, swelling of his extremities, chest pain, labored breathing and a very high heart rate.

Blood work is coming back, tests are finally being ordered, and they have no idea what is wrong with him. In the meantime, he's fighting for his life. This hospital doesn't have a working MRI machine, so they transfer him to hospital # 4 in stable yet critical condition. Now the fight begins in ways I can't even express. Fast forward, and here we are with him, fighting for his life. They still have no idea what led to this, but he has numerous life-threatening infections. He has endocarditis, a staph infection, sepsis, an infection in his colon, pneumonia, vegetation on his heart, respiratory and heart valve failure and a stroke. I'm sure I'm missing other things. Taylor has been sedated and on a ventilator for the past few days. Right now, we pray that his body keeps fighting these infections and that he survives every night. His survival rate is 50-50 at this point. First, his body needs to fight all these severe infections. The doctor said it would take approximately 6-8 weeks of antibiotic treatment to treat the sepsis if his body permits. If we can make it to that point, he will need open heart surgery to repair his heart and valve.

Now here we are, exactly one week after he first showed signs of being very ill.

Brianna is six months pregnant and due middle of March. The stress of all this is taking its toll on her and their unborn baby. She hasn't left his side since this all began. Taylor, praying that he survives to make it to surgery, will be out of work for the next six months to a year, depending on how his surgery goes, and we still need a miracle that he will survive it. Brianna will not be able to work as Taylor will require 6-8 weeks of physical and neurological therapy and care. That takes us into late January or early February. She is due the following month and will take care of Taylor full-time and their baby. This scenario is only to say that Taylor makes it through everything. The other scenario is unimaginable; his body can't fight these infections, and he won't make it to have surgery or get through surgery. No matter how you look at it, she will take care of him and the baby on her own or be a single mother. The financial impact is significant whether it's two people without an income or one. Taylor has health insurance, but we have no idea what medical bills we are looking at until this is all over. There will be plenty that isn't covered by insurance. We're only eight days since his first hospital visit- four hospitals later. Please realize that our goal amount may sound or look exorbitant, but it is surmountable when you sit down and think of everything involved and no income coming in. There is still too much uncertainty.

Our family, alongside Taylor's, asks that you please donate what you can. Every dollar amount helps, and all proceeds will go to Brianna to assist her in caring for herself, their baby, and Taylor and whatever the following hours, days, weeks, and months will bring. We ask everybody to pray for Taylor, Brianna and their unborn child, whether you donate or not. We are nowhere close to being out of the woods, and there is a long, uncertain road ahead. Please, God, save Taylor's life!