Chris suffered from a perforated bowel and septic shock on June 8th and was admitted to Mercy hospital in Fort Smith, AR. He had an emergency surgery that evening and more surgeries on June 9th, 11th, 16th, and 20th. I was told Chris was fortunate to make it through that first surgery, and I can’t thank his surgical team, subsequent teams, and ICU and nursing staff enough. He spent a total of 3 weeks in the ICU.
During the June 16th surgery, the surgeon discovered a mass that was later biopsied. We found out Chris has Colorectal Cancer, which caused the perforated bowel emergency. Chris has talked to an oncologist, and there will be chemo/radiation and surgery to remove the tumor once he has completely healed from the perforated bowel. He will likely have to go out of state for surgery, but we are unsure about the details.
He is healing, but it’s been a slow process. Several nurses and others have put it two steps forward and one step back, but they’ve also said that is progress! He is currently in long-term care and is starting to do better with his PT. His care team likes how everything looks and is progressing; it’s just taking time.
Chris has been receiving his paycheck during this time but is being transitioned over to hourly pay. He will be able to keep his insurance, and Chris and his boss are hopeful he can work for an hour or two every day while in hospital. We are grateful to his boss and company for working with us! However, we will need help with medical and daily expenses. We do have a small savings, but it’s not much. Anything we receive will help him not stress so much and let him rest and heal as much as he needs to. Chris is ready to be back home with me and his cats, around family and friends, back to work, and back on his bicycle and geocaching again!
We know quite a few of you have already helped us, and we want everyone to know how much we appreciate your support and outpouring of love and friendship. It means the world to both Chris and me. It’s been a lot to take in and process over the past seven weeks, and we couldn’t have gotten through this without y’all.
Thank YOU!