Help and support for Sabrina’s hospitalization

Hi everyone, we are fundraising for Sabrina Gould and her recent, unexpected hospitalization. On Friday July 28, Sabrina went to an urgent care with shortness of breath and intense back pain. Unfortunately, the urgent care facility did not do a thorough job and sent her home with muscle relaxers. By 5:00 Sunday morning, less than 2 days later, she was brought into the ER since she still could not breathe and could barely move a couple feet without collapsing. Checking her vitals, her oxygen levels were in the high 60s and she was rushed in for a chest x-ray, CT scan and put on oxygen. The x-ray and CT revealed severe ARDS and a pulmonary embolism in the right lung. Even with trying nasal cannula, a nebulizer and BiPAP, her oxygen levels still weren’t rising and she ended up crashing overnight. The hospital needed to sedate and intubate her in order to try and keep her stable and immediately put in a transfer request to a larger hospital.

Tuesday morning, August 1, she was transferred overnight to WakeMed and was in such a bad condition she was required to be placed on ECMO. Sabrina stayed on ECMO for 8 days before the ICU doctors believed she could safely be taken off of it. She remained intubated for another 2 days before undergoing a tracheostomy on August 10 and still remains fully sedated and on mechanical ventilation. Daily chest x-rays still show highly damaged and scarred lungs and are fluid filled on top of everything else.

Doctors believe it will likely be weeks before any vent settings can be changed to try to have her breathe on her own and wake her off of sedation because her lungs are so badly damaged. Even after she is stable enough for that, it will be added months of occupational and physical therapy and learning how to walk again before being able to go home. 

Any fundraising and donations will be used to cover Sabrina’s medical bills and monthly expenses while she is hospitalized and unable to work.