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Funds for Mom & Dad

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Who am I....
For those of you that don't know me, I am Dave's daughter and oldest child. For those of you that do know me, you know how much of a daddy's girl I am. For 32 years, he has been the most reliable, responsible, and strongest man I know.   He would not leave me hanging in a time like this and I surely will not leave him. Now I want to help him and my mom in any way I can during the most difficult time in all of our lives

Over the last 2 weeks my family and I have been with him at UPMC as he as gone through 7 surgeries/anesthesia in 9 days (2 of those were emergencies). To say this has been a roller coaster is an understatement. As soon as we think we are on the road to recovery we are hit with another jab in our bellies. 

What is going on..... 

On March 6th, dad was admitted to UPMC for surgical treatment on an infected graft in his abdominal cavity. The original grafts were about 15 years old and had given him no problems up until last year. The surgery itself was extremely complex and the chances of him making it out of surgery alone were not as great as we would've liked but there was no alternative. They were replacing a graft that had already been replaced. Here we are about 2 weeks later and dad is still putting up a fight. 

Over these 2 weeks these are some of the hurdles that he has overcome:
- perforated small intestine (repaired)
-part of large intestine removed 
-required 23 units of blood in the first 24 hours out after surgery
- BP has required lots of medication to control it
-he had a stroke 
-a knicked bladder
-abdominal compartment syndrome from being closed to early (led to emergency surgery last night). 

The list goes on but these are some of the things he has endured and is continuing to push on. 

Currently, dad is still on the ventilator but has become more responsive (although right now this seems to change daily). Today has been a good day so far but I am honestly terrified of what the next hour can bring based on all that has happened in the last 10-14 days. 

What are these funds for? 
I would like to start out by saying this money will not be used in any way by my brother and I. It will be going directly to my mom and dad. 

Due to dads illnesses in the past year he is running short on PTO time. Currently, he has PTO  to take until April 18th. Once this time runs out,they will be  living on 1 military pension that I am not sure will cover all of their bills and making living very difficult. This is also not accounting for hotels for my mom. I am applying for FMLA for him but that time off will not be paid.

Dad had plans to retire in about 2 years but ultimately this is going to push him into retirement sooner that he would've liked. These funds will help them survive until his retirement funds can be accessed and he is back up on his feet. 

He will also be needed an extended rehab program in a facility. Hoping to relocate them to Augusta, GA.
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Donations 

  • Chris Burke
    • $100 
    • 5 yrs
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Organizer

Christina Smith
Organizer
Augusta, GA

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