Gilbert's ("Sweetpea") Road to Recovery

Hi, my name is Veronica, but most people just know me as Gilbert's wife - and I am 100% okay with that! I have created this donation page to get some help with Gilbert's hospital expenses. On December 5th, 2023, I came home from work and found him unresponsive on the couch. His breathing was labored, he was sweating, and he could not talk to me. An ambulance transported him to St. David's South Austin Hospital. When the tests results came back, Gilbert was diagnosed with Sepsis caused by a bacterial staph infection in his blood. He was in renal and liver failure. At one point his blood pressure dropped to 68/32. An MRI also found that the staph infection in his blood caused him to have osteomyelitis and discitis, which are staph infections in the bones of his lower spine and the soft tissue in-between the discs. He had laminectomy back surgery to ease some of the nerve pain and a "wash out" procedure to clean out some of the infections. In total he spent 7 weeks in the hospital. He is home now and still receiving antibiotics through a PICC line in his arm. The infection in his back has destroyed his lower vertebrae. Gilbert says the pain is unbearable - he cannot sit up like normal, always having to be in a reclined position or in his bed. He has six more weeks of IV antibiotics to try to kill this infection. Once the infections are gone, he will need surgery to correct the damage the infection has caused. Any donations we receive will go directly to pay off the stack of hospital bills he has incurred. Thank you in advance. Gilbert cannot wait to be back to normal and visit his favorite places and see all his friends again.