Bile and Bills: Help Eric Bounce Back

Hello everyone!

Our dear friend Eric has been in the hospital for over a week now with complications from a routine gallbladder removal. The night after his surgery, he was experiencing excruciating pain and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. It took a few days for the doctors to realize that his abdomen had filled with bile (stomach acid) due to a leak. They were able to resolve that with a stent and drain, but in the meantime, his organs had been burned very badly. It's been very, very painful! The bile and resulting pancreatitis were excruciating by themselves, but then the washout required a vertical midline incision down his entire abdomen, which makes a recovery even more difficult.

He is currently in the IMCU (one level below ICU) receiving necessary pain medicine and nutrition via IV. The biggest problem now is that to heal burns, you need good nutrition and protein. His gut may not wake up for a long time, which will keep healing from happening. He has also been spiking a fever, so there is no intention to change where he is. Best case scenario, he will be in the hospital for at least another week.

When he does come home, he can't work for 6 weeks as he will still be recovering.

The holidays are here, and the family doesn't know when he will return to work, so I'm here asking for your kind-hearted donations to this project so they can cover bills, rest easy about the medical costs, and still have a Christmas.

In the middle of this, the power steering went out of Meg's trusty ol' minivan, so there is that too.

Please help if you can! ❤️