A little update! First and most IMPORTANTLY, we would like to send out a giant heartfelt thank you, to all who have shared, and donated! ❤️ Dave is doing a little better, each day! He still has a very long (months) road to recovery but thankfully, so far, the infection has NOT returned! If it does, it will be another immediate surgery! He still needs to travel to the Dr's 3 times per week for checks and wound changes, on top of the daily wound changes that my mom does. I have attached a few pictures of the supplies they need and were able to buy with all your support! The dressing is almost $140 per 10 pack! The drinks (are for wound healing, he's supposed to have 2 daily) are $76 for only 15 days worth! On top of the gloves, gauzes and multiple other items! You are all truly amazing, and the love and support is definitely appreciated!

https://gofund.me/1162a1f8

Please help my parents as they try to overcome this medical emergency!

The night of April 27th, my mom (Mary Hinrichsen) brought her husband, Dave to the emergency room in Ashland. He fell, and was disorientated. They ran some tests and a CT scan and decided to keep him overnight for observation. He had to stay in the ER, as they said the beds were full in the hospital. The testing showed, some sort of infection, which they chalked up to a type of skin or yeast infection, as he had a "rash" near the groin area. He was put on a few antibiotics and sent home the next morning. Throughout the day, there was more disorientation and yet another fall, my mom struggled to get him up, after a period of time, with help from my sister (Mandi) & brother (Vincent) they were able to get him back on the bed. My mom had been putting the skin cream on, and had noticed that his genital area had started to swell. A few hours go by, another round of ointment, and my mom noticed that his genital area had now more than doubled in size, and there was now a large, red lump on his lower abdomen/groin area. That is when she knew he had to go back to the Emergency room instantly. She took him back they ran tests again and yet another CT scan. After hours of waiting, they came in and said he NEEDED to be life-flighted to Duluth to have an emergency surgery to help with the infection. My mom called me at 3:00am and asked me to bring her to Duluth, as he was getting prepped in the chopper.

When we got to the Critical Care Unit, that is when we learned the name of the infection: Fournier Gangrene, which is a rare, life threatening infection that rapidly destroys soft tissues in the genital, perineal and perineal areas. It's a type of necrotizing fasciitis, where the bacteria invade and kill tissue, and can lead to organ failure and death. FG is a surgical emergency that requires prompt debridement and antibiotic therapy.

The surgeon informed us, that people with this type of infection, sometimes stay in the hospital for months, because if, even the smallest piece of infection is left behind, it will spread rapidly and destroy more tissue. Also, that he will have a wide open, hollow hole within his groin area, from removing all the damaged tissue. Dave's surgeon, was pretty certain that she was able to remove all the infected tissue during the surgery! Hours after the surgery, he would not wake up, his O2 levels, blood pressure and heart rate were messed up as well. They gave him multiple doses of narcan, to try to reverse the effects of the medication given to him after surgery. It helped for a little while, but something was still wrong. He just could not stay awake, even into the next day. They again, administered multiple doses of narcan, and refused to give him any more heavy pain medication. Now, during all this time, he had to have his wound changed multiple times per day, which they would hold open his wound, stick their arm directly inside of him and removed the 2 full size rolls of gauze, that were stuffed inside of him. The rolls were roughly 3 inches in diameter and roughly 6 inches long. They would then, open 2 more, soak them in a "medical grade" bleach, and insert them back into the hole.

After a few days in the Critical Care unit, he was moved to a regular hospital room. But something was still not right. His stats were still way off, still couldn't really stay awake and was still disoriented. The crash team came rushing in, and after different blood draws thru arteries they determined that he had extremely high levels of CO2 in his blood, and instantly put him on a bipap machine and back in the Critical Care Unit. It was so terrifying for my mom to witness, as she was alone with him. After some time, he started to be more alert, and his stats were finally starting to level out.

Dave is now at home, and needed to go to Duluth, 3 times per week, to have the wound changed and checked. They were able to put a wound vac on him, but that was very short lived, as they found he now has a bleed inside and they didn't want the wound vac to continuously suck his blood out.

My mom had to take a leave of absence from work, to be able to stay home, watch and care for him, and bring him to his appointments and change his wound multiple times daily. She had the only job in the house. I am kindly asking for any donations you might be able to provide, as they still have custody of their 7 year old grandson, car payment, household bills, grocery, gas, and medical supplies.

Dave still has a long road to recovery.

Thank you kindly for reading, and any donation will help them tremendously, and will be appreciated to the max!

With love,

Dave & Mary

(And their family)