GARY KOEHN

Hello and thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this. Our brother, dad, husband and grandpa was working on his truck in the shop on Thanksgiving day 2018. He was up on a six foot step ladder when he tripped and fell from about four feet. He fell onto the passenger steps on his truck, striking his right side. He was able to make it home and finished the day resting. The next day he was in an extreme amount of pain and went into the doctor to find out he had broken a rib. He was told to take it easy for several days and not to drive truck. About a week after that he was still in extreme pain and went into the ER at the local hospital. Another X-ray was done and this X-ray showed he had six broken ribs now and there was fluid on his right lung! The next Tuesday he was in with the Pulmonologist to get the fluid off his lungs. Most all the fluid was blood. It was noted that his Hemoglobin was low. Back home he went and several days later was taken into ER again for severe pain in his right chest. In only the few days he was home there was just as much if not more fluid on his lung. The decision to transport him to Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney was made and he made a trip there in the ambulance. He was in the hospital for three days and then had a follow up with his Pulmonologist. His recommendation was to do surgery to scrape all the clotting away. This was scheduled and he went back into the hospital on Dec 20 and had the procedure done. He was released on Christmas morning and we was able to have an enjoyable Christmas Day together as a family. After the new year it seemed he just was not getting better. He had tried to drive truck but just was not able to due to a lot of pain and just could not catch his breath with multiple trips to the ER. His family Doctor decided it was time to send him on to a specialist as there was obviously something more going on than just some lingering fluid around his lungs that was causing his low blood counts. There was an appointment made with Dr. Crockett for March 13th. Dr Crockett said he needed to do a bone marrow draw to see if something was happening with the manufacturing of his blood. The bone marrow draw was done that afternoon. This whole time he was in and out of the hospitals and doctor offices. On March 22nd he had another appointment with Dr. Crockett and he was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. This has started quite a journey for the family. He was back in hospital to get a blood transfusion. He was given two units of blood and was in the hospital for 3 days this time. He was scheduled to start his chemo treatment March 26, but was unable to have the treatment due to his body not being built up enough to start the treatment. He was back into Kearney to the hospital to get a catheter installed into his right side to drain the fluid off his lungs. He came home and was home overnight and was in such extreme pain we took him into the ER again to see if they could help him. He was in there for a few hours and then went back home. His home health nurse came and saw how much pain he was in and called Dr. Crockett his oncologist. Dr. Crockett said he needed to get into the ER in Grand Island so they could start the process and start killing the cancer. He was admitted into the Grand Island Hospital which is attached to the Cancer Center on April 1. His first chemo treatment was on April 3 and April 4. He was in the hospital until getting dismissed on April 9. He is doing treatment in Grand Island two days a week now. As you can see this is going to be a long healing process. He is blessed with a very good insurance that is so far covering most of the care. Here is where you can help if you feel the desire to. He has been off the truck not having any income (other than about 4days of running the truck right after the first of the year) since Thanksgiving 2018. They still have all there everyday expenses. They will be putting on a lot of miles for doctor visits and treatment. And just all the everyday duties of keeping their bills paid and groceries supplied along with medications. It is looking like he will be unable to work for at least 3-6months right now. Virginia has had some house jobs but is unable to keep most of them as she is needed at home to help Gary with his everyday needs. The doctors have told us there is no reason to believe he will not get better and have good life ahead of him. Again thank you for your consideration and may God Bless you for your generosity.