Fix a Butt, Save a Life!

Hi friends & family,

 

We are fundraising to help ease the stress and scariness of an upcoming 6-8 week hospital stay (to fix two large pressure sores) by bridging the gap between hospital and homecare so what happened during Andy’s last hospital stay doesn’t happen again.

 

Two years ago Andy, (a quadriplegic since the age of 15) went into the hospital for pancreatitis. What should have been an uneventful hospital stay, turned into Andy fighting for her life for nearly 5 months. Andy battled repeated infections, she went septic twice, caught H1N1 (who gets H1N1 anymore!?) and pneumonia. She was on a ventilator for months and her health became so critical that they decided to do a tracheotomy. During this procedure Andy’s heart stopped for several minutes. 

 

Because doctors and nurses were trying desperately to keep Andy alive she was left with two baseball sized pressure sores, down to the bone, on either side of her buttocks from not being turned in the hospital bed. Since Andy’s release from the hospital she and her care team have tried everything to heal the sores. Andy has been on months of bed rest, wound vacs, offloading and numerous medications to try and heal. Nothing has worked and Andy’s quality of life is suffering because of it. 

 

Andy is a talented designer and incredibly social. She enjoys seeing friends, trying new restaurants, going to shows, movies, playing boardgames, and more; however, having these sores has definitely hindered her ability to do the things she enjoys doing as often as she would like to, especially when it comes to work. The sores drastically impede her ability to sit up at a computer and work more than an hour or so, and because of this she’s been on Disability the last two years. The pain from the sores triggers a condition called autonomic dysreflexia in which Andy gets very dizzy, disoriented and it causes extremely cold sweats which in turn cause full body chills for the majority of the bad days and raises her blood pressure to unsafe heights.

 

The good news is there’s a surgery to fix these sores which means she will have to go into the hospital for 6-8 weeks. We are hopeful that this surgery will allow Andy to get back to life and regain control of her health. 

 

The bad news is that nurses and hospitals are stretched very thin, and Andy’s original injuries occurred in part due to the inability of the hospital to ensure that the complex needs of dealing with a quadriplegic in care were adequately met. Frankly, we are all terrified that this will happen again during her upcoming procedure. The staff are simply unable to meet her daily needs to keep her whole body safe and healthy with their current level of staffing and resources. 

 

Being quadriplegic comes with its own unique set of difficulties that makes being in the hospital extra nerve racking - not being able to get things for her self, use the remote, eat, get comfortable, use the washroom, get a drink… it’s even difficult to use the call button. All of these daily activities we take for granted need somebody being there around the clock to ensure Andy’s unique needs and safety are met through her upcoming recovery time.

Because of this we’re hoping for your support to help keep Andy’s government-funded self-managed care available throughout her hospital stay.

 

Keeping Andy’s homecare ensures that both Andy’s medical and emotional needs will be met. The idea of being isolated in a hospital and being confined to bed for 8 weeks is overwhelming. Keeping homecare means that there is a higher probability that this surgery will be successful. It also keeps Andy’s homecare employed. 

 

The government will not cover these homecare costs, as they are considered ineligible fees during a patient’s hospital stay. For someone like Andy however, this extra care is critical.  

 

We are hoping to raise approximately $9500 for her part time home care to come in regularly and help Andy through her recovery time. It is critical for the success of the surgery that Andy has all of the additional support her talented homecare team offers. 

 

We know Andy would be forever grateful and over the moon to anyone who could donate what they can to help her maintain homecare throughout the 6-8 weeks in hospital!! If you can, please consider making a contribution (of any size) to help ensure Andy receives the added care she truly needs. This procedure can make all the difference for her future. Together we can ensure Andy has the support she needs to recover quickly and safely.