Joel's guts suck

On Thursday, December 28th Joel woke up with a stomach ache that he couldn't shake. By Saturday, the pain was so intense he knew he had to go to the hospital. Within 8 hours he had been diagnosed with an awful disease called Diverticulitis. Diverticulitis happens when you develop pouches in the colon and they get inflamed or infected. Basically, he developed an abscess on his intestine and it ruptured. As you can imagine, it is incredibly painful and there have been times when even morphine wouldn't eradicate the pain it was causing. For the first 2 days he was unable to walk and didn't have anything to eat or drink until day 5. He is still on an all liquids diet but slowly recovering. The pain is still there and his white blood cell count (a sign of infection) isn't decreasing as quickly as the doctors would like. He still has to get a subcutaneous tube installed into his abdomen to drain purlent (pus) fluid. In addition to the incredible physical and mental, and emotional toll this has taken on him, it's just as difficult financially. He has been unable to work since Thursday and since we are unsure of the outcome, his return date to work is to be announced. Once he is released, he will be out of work for a few more weeks and will have to take it really slow. His expenses do not only include basic necessities since he unfortunately does not have health insurance. His massive hospital bill that is approaching and may exceed $100,000 is left to him and his family and that kind of expense is devastating. Please look into your heart (and your wallet) and help Joel find some peace during the greatest fight of his life. Joel is the most caring and wonderful man I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He has been a resident of Greensboro for the majority of his life and loves his community. He's and incredible friend and an even better brother and son.  Rally with us and help your favorite little Canadian get through this! Thank you to everyone for your generosity! ❤️