Expenses for gas, food, housing and bills

On November 3rd, an ambulance was called because dad was having trouble breathing and was unwell. When the ambulance got to him he was having a mild heart attack and rushed him to Mansfield to be airlifted due to the nature of how unstable he was. But when they got to Mansfield, the EMTs realized that it was going to be a little bit longer until the helicopter got to the location. The medical team decided that they did not have the time to wait and had to shock his heart. Had they of waited five more minutes he would’ve died. After getting him life flighted to Cox South ER and completely hooked up on machines we discovered his heart was in failure. According to doctors he was very sick. Due to his heavy breathing doctors decided it would be best to send him to MICU. Once he was admitted into the MICU dad had to be sedated and intubated. After that we had been informed not only was his heart in failure but so were his kidneys. His blood was acidic and his body was retaining fluid. His leg had an infection that needed attention as well. With his blood needing filtering and his heart not working at full function a few things needed to be done. Doctors decided to put in an impella mesh pump to help give his overworked heart a bit of a break and he would need to be put on dialysis. Dialysis was a very risky move because the function of dads heart was between 10%-25%. Because of this his blood pressure was having a difficult time staying up. Starting dialysis could cause all of his vitals to drop completely, ultimately killing him. However, we serve a great God and along with many other blessings in this story, starting dialysis was another miracle because his body handled it!

Cox South decided to put in a transfer for dad to go to St. Louis. In case things took a turn for the worst, Barnes Jewish Hospital had bigger equipment. So while dads vitals were holding steady they wanted to be able to transport as safely as possible. Once he got to Barnes our mom was informed, again, that dad was very sick and has a long road ahead of him. Doctors said they are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst because how damaged his heart is. They aren’t making promises but they are wanting to very slowly wean him off of some of the medications he is on.

With all of that being said, for obvious reasons, mom can’t leave his side. Given the severity of our dad’s circumstances, we’re unsure how long he will be in the hospital. These funds will help with gas for travel, bills, food, and housing while our mom stays with dad.