Lauren's Emergency Medevac Expenses

My best friend came to visit for a few days this week. Early her first morning here, she woke me to tell me something was wrong. Her arm was in excruciating pain and her hand was limp, cold and white.

She went to the ER in my small town and over the course of the day they determined she had a large subclavian blood clot which needed to be removed immediately. Due to the location of the clot, the procedure was risky and the doctors discussed transferring her to a larger hospital but ultimately decided they would do the procedure locally. Unfortunately the procedure was unsuccessful as the clot was larger and further than they expected and she needed to be transferred to a larger hospital after all, as they weren't equipped to handle it. The location of the clot also put her at high risk for a stroke if it came dislodged during transport. Since the next nearest hospital capable of treating her was 1.5 hours away, a bumpy ambulance ride wasn't an option. She was devastated to learn she would need to be transported by medevac helicopter to Tucson. She's young and healthy so all this was a huge shock.

She was flown out that afternoon in pain, but good spirits and underwent surgery last night. The surgery took several hours but was successful and she's now recovering in the Tucson hospital. She's from Las Vegas and her family, including her perfect 5 year old little boy, arrived this morning to be with her. She should be released in a few days, but will need follow up to figure out why this happened and how to prevent it again.

This ordeal has caused her to miss work and it's unknown how long she will need to fully recover before she can get back to her normal, strenuous duties as a nurse herself. She would never ask for help, but the medevac, double procedures, hospital stay and transportation home will all mount up to significant costs, even with insurance. So this fundraiser is to help offset a fraction of those costs until she recovers and is able to get back to work full time. Thank you for anything you're able to contribute.