Everybody Loves Pedro
Donation protected
At 5 AM on Christmas Day I woke up to see my husband, Pedro in the middle of a seizure after his airway closed off during the night. Pedro has sleep apenea and he has a CPAP machine, but this was the second time I had woken to my husband possibly dying in front of me in two months.
He was rushed to the ER, and they decided to keep him overnight to do a sleep oxygen test to try to determine why he kept having "unresponsive episodes." During this we noticed his urine seemed dark, so they did a test -everything seemed normal.
After the staff moved him to a floor, they started to administer a blood thinner as a precaution against blood clots. That's when he starting urinating straight blood and blood clots.
He was given an ultrasound to check for a possible kidney stone, but instead they found a blood clot in his bladder, two in his right kidney and something that seemed larger -probably another clot.
The next day he had a CT scan of his abdomen. We were anxious to get home to our daughter and thought nothing of it -then the hospitalist came into our room and showed us his scan.
There was an 11cm tumor on his right kidney. The mass had essentially taken over his kidney, and we were told it was cancer.
We were also told he would need surgery as soon as possible to remove the entire kidney -and they couldn't do it at our local hospital.
This Thursday, Jan 18 at 8:30 am eastern time he will have surgery. We are fortunate that we found an amazing surgeon in Chicago and we have family that have helped us during this journey -from the emotional toll it has taken on our family, to the week and a half over New Year's we couldn't live in our house due to our plumbing.
We are grateful for what we have: a happy family, an awesome three year old, and I'm fortunate enough to have a full-time job that has good benefits and a supportive team of collegues that has let me remote work and take time off last minute.
However, we are facing steep medical bills, lots of travel expenses to and from Chicago, restoration work on our house, and all the little expenses like meals, medicines, and new equipment for Pedro's sleep apnea that will not be covered.
Pedro and I don't like to ask for help like this -but the last thing I want to do when Pedro is recovering is to have him worrying about money. I want him to focus 100% on his recovery and new lifestyle, and I know a lot of people that love him do as well.
Thank you for reading this. We love you all.
-Jess Galicia
He was rushed to the ER, and they decided to keep him overnight to do a sleep oxygen test to try to determine why he kept having "unresponsive episodes." During this we noticed his urine seemed dark, so they did a test -everything seemed normal.
After the staff moved him to a floor, they started to administer a blood thinner as a precaution against blood clots. That's when he starting urinating straight blood and blood clots.
He was given an ultrasound to check for a possible kidney stone, but instead they found a blood clot in his bladder, two in his right kidney and something that seemed larger -probably another clot.
The next day he had a CT scan of his abdomen. We were anxious to get home to our daughter and thought nothing of it -then the hospitalist came into our room and showed us his scan.
There was an 11cm tumor on his right kidney. The mass had essentially taken over his kidney, and we were told it was cancer.
We were also told he would need surgery as soon as possible to remove the entire kidney -and they couldn't do it at our local hospital.
This Thursday, Jan 18 at 8:30 am eastern time he will have surgery. We are fortunate that we found an amazing surgeon in Chicago and we have family that have helped us during this journey -from the emotional toll it has taken on our family, to the week and a half over New Year's we couldn't live in our house due to our plumbing.
We are grateful for what we have: a happy family, an awesome three year old, and I'm fortunate enough to have a full-time job that has good benefits and a supportive team of collegues that has let me remote work and take time off last minute.
However, we are facing steep medical bills, lots of travel expenses to and from Chicago, restoration work on our house, and all the little expenses like meals, medicines, and new equipment for Pedro's sleep apnea that will not be covered.
Pedro and I don't like to ask for help like this -but the last thing I want to do when Pedro is recovering is to have him worrying about money. I want him to focus 100% on his recovery and new lifestyle, and I know a lot of people that love him do as well.
Thank you for reading this. We love you all.
-Jess Galicia
Organizer
Jessica Galicia
Organizer
Edwardsburg, MI
