Our goal amount is actually, "Anything helps."

How it started

Hi all, sorry I haven't been more open with what has been going on. It's more a matter of time and energy vs. keeping things hidden.

That being said, here's a brief rundown.

June 9th, Forest ran to the bathroom to throw up and collapsed in the hallway in too much pain to get up. I had to send him off in an ambulance while I closed up the house and stood there trying to take a moment to figure out what just happened.

What Happened

Short story, acute pancreatitis caused by gal "rocks" as the doctor called them.

Longer story, he's been in and out of the hospital since that date; most visits being to the ER and then to Keck USC in Los Angeles. The complications arising from pancreatitis included one called necrotizing pancreatitis where fluid collections around the pancreas cause the tissues to die, and the collections can cause a laundry list of other complications to arise- and arise they did.

Fluid collections on his pancreas, blood clots in his portal vein, not tolerating any food or drink, extreme nausea, pain and break through pain, blood infections, break through blood infections, dozens of procedures and trips to the ER.

Most of the summer was spent taking him to the ER, getting him admitted, fighting insurance, getting him transferred to Keck for a week, getting discharged just before a complication made itself apparent, and spending the following week at home managing symptoms until he was sick enough to go back to the ER. Rinse and repeat.

It's been a long summer.

The Good News and the Bad News

Bad news first, it may take a while to heal fully as this has taken a large toll on his body. Doctor said it may even be a year until he is back to some semblance of normal. He's lost over sixty pounds in three months, his muscle mass has taken a bit of a hit, and he now has a gastrointestinal feeding tube to supplement the nutrients he can't get via regular eating and drinking as the swelling has caused enough of an obstruction to only allow minimal food to pass.

Now the good news, he is very likely to make a full recovery and we're also likely over the brunt of it at this point, now he most needs the one thing we cannot borrow: time. Some rest and physical therapy in the meantime will help him pass that time.

Where we are at.

He's home and finally seems to be at the stage where he can begin actual recovery. It is great to have him back in Bakersfield.

Thanks to an amazing support network and extreme budgeting we've made it this far, however, we figured we'd start a GoFundMe as literally every single dollar would go to keeping us afloat and relatively stress free as he recovers.

Here are some ideas of what a donation would go to:

•Gas and possibly lodging for follow up appointments in Los Angeles; he will have quite a few.

•Foods he can eat with his limited diet.

•Drinks (not alcohol) one of the things he has few limitations on.

•Bills, all of them. Rent, electric, gas, old bills, new bills, possible future medical bills that have yet to show up, etc.

•New Clothes. With his rapid weight loss I'm going to have to tailor some of his clothes and replace others completely.

•Haircut for Forest, I can tame it in the meantime.

•College supplies. We're both going to college and with his potential recovery time he will not likely have the time to save up for books and other supplies he will need when he resumes in the spring semester.

•Cleaning supplies. Gotta catch up.

•Medical supplies; we get a lot of it covered by insurance but some things we are told to acquire ourselves such as:

-Alcohol cleaning swabs

-Nitrile gloves, gotta stay clean when tending to what are essentially open wounds

-Lidocaine patches for site pain

-Medicated ointment for feeding tube site to prevent irritation

-Cinches to hold the feeding tube in place and ease discomfort

-Physical therapy tools to build his strength back

-Shower bags for feeding tube

•etc.

•Maybe a coffee, I kinda need it.

Any leftover funds would go into savings for potential emergencies especially until he is good and well in the clear.

If you're not comfortable donating in this way but still want to help we've put together an Amazon wishlist of things we could use:

Forest's Get Well Soon Wishlist

Any amount is appreciated, and even if you don't donate, well wishes and keeping us in your prayers is more than appreciated. Thank you for your support and I'll be happy to share updates as things go.