
Momma Sue
Donation protected
Never thought I’d be here but here goes:
As many of you know, Momma has struggled with Crohns Disease for 20 years.
In August she was really having issues down below but the GI doctors did not even examine her until I went with her in January and insisted they see for themselves. Turns out she had a rectal prolapse. It was as painful as it sounds! She had been teaching the whole fall semester dealing with this every single day.
In January, she goes on unpaid Temporary Disability Leave from BISD pending colorectal surgery in March.
Being a school teacher, she quickly ran thru her savings so I paid her bills for February and March. No worries.
I get Momma to St. Luke’s in Houston March 4th. They want to monitor her overnight and begin surgery the following morning. 7am the colorectal surgeon team comes in to go over the surgery once again. They say it should take 3hrs give or take and there is only a 5% chance that Momma will end up with an ostomy that of course she does NOT want. I kissed Momma goodbye with neither of us having a clue what was coming next.
The plan was to go inside and sew her rectum to her back but after 30 years of steroids/anti rejection medication from her two kidney transplants, the tissue was too weak. They pierced thru that section of her rectum then had to remove that section because it’s now damaged. Her bottom was so inflamed from the prolapse that they decided to go the ostomy route.
Dr said at one point her numbers from the blood work were coming back at unsafe levels so they had to stop the surgery completely to let her stabilize then start again. The surgery took 10hrs!
Because she was so malnourished and dehydrated going in to surgery, they had to pump her with extra fluid. Over the course of 10hrs the fluid started building in her tissue instead of her blood stream.
She swole up like a balloon all throughout her body! Her neck was so swollen that they decided not to remove the ventilator in case of an emergency, they would not be able to get the tube back in her throat.
So Momma woke up in ICU at midnight on a ventilator with arm restraints! Can you imagine?!
I was of course by myself and NOT prepared to see Momma this way. My naive self thought she would be out until the vent was removed but that was not the case. They needed her to wake up and breathe on her own before they’d remove the ventilator.
I kept talking to Momma and encouraging her to stay awake and breathe and telling her everything’s going to be okay and that I was here and not leaving!
8am comes around and Momma is strong enough breathing on her own for the tube to come out.
She spent 2 days in ICU. I was up for over 30 hours during all this so I was completely exhausted. Aunt Cyndy came to relieve me for a couple days. Very grateful for her!
Momma spent the next 3 weeks in the hospital recovering. I have been with her every day but a couple here and there to come home to rest while Aunt Cyndy stayed with her.
Momma is now home and I need to stay with her until she is stronger and can get around on her own.
Her bladder had not “fully woken up” from the surgery so she is not able to empty her bladder on her own just yet. That puts her one transplanted kidney at risk so she was sent home with a catheter.
She is also losing fluid, nutrients from her ostomy so I am having to administer fluids every 8hrs through a central line in her chest.
Momma is still in a lot of pain in her stomach from surgery, plus the catheter, plus the new ostomy, plus the central line, she is not able to get around on her own yet. She is trying hard and making progress every day but we aren’t there yet. Let alone cook for herself or even clean herself up fully on her own. All reasons I need to be here to help her!
I can not be off of work to tend to Momma and pay her bills at the same time.
Social worker came today to break the news about our wonderful government assistance programs: Disability, Medicaid each takes approximately 4 months to hear back and Momma may not even qualify. Catholic charities offered zero help, 211 said there’s no funding in Hardin County, Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission offered zero help, Mytexasbenefits.com- zero help. Any government assistance would take months to kick in IF she qualified and we plan on Momma being recovered and back to work by that time! We just need help currently.
I have reached out to all agencies, organizations that I can think of and no one is offering any assistance so I have no other choice but to ask the public for help.
My boss has been incredibly understanding and supportive during all this time letting me be with Momma and keeping my job. But we have zero income right now. Like I said, I’ve been at the hospital with her for the month of March and can not leave her yet.
I am having to run errands such as pick up her medications from pharmacy, go buy medical supplies that insurance doesn’t cover. I have to coordinate with home health for the nurse and physical therapy to come out. I have to bring Momma to get her blood drawn to check her kidney levels and bring her to post op appointment next week in Houston. And in between, I have all the nursing, cleaning, cooking, etc.
I am certainly not complaining!!! I adore my Momma! I am just one person and I am overwhelmed.
Anyone who knows Momma Sue knows she is the kindest and toughest woman! We wouldn’t ask for help if we had any other choice.
This is not her first experience having to recover after major surgery and she is as determined as ever to overcome and get back to her normal life!
She can’t wait to get back to teaching and being Sue Sue to her grandsons who she absolutely adores!
The amount I am asking for will cover bills, gas to Dr appointments, food and medical supplies for April and May.
By then Momma will be stronger and back on her feet so we can both get back to work!
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Organizer
Natalie Lavergne
Organizer
Kountze, TX