Help Deanna and her Family navigate this medical journey

Hi, my name is James. This GoFundMe is to help our family cover a myriad of expenses related to the progression of gastroparesis that my wonderful wife, Deanna, has been dealing with for 6+ years. Ultimately, as her condition has worsened over the years, we are faced with having to seek care from specialists and pursue abdominal surgery to help Deanna get relief from her symptoms and hopefully return to our normal day-to-day lives with our two baby girls.

This funding will help cover:

- Any medical costs for her gastroparesis treatment including:

•IV Infusions needed to help keep Deanna hydrated as she is having issues with hydrating

•Surgery that is needed to relieve Deanna of her symptoms

•Post Op recovery

- Any lost wages for Deanna and myself related to her treatments, as she will most likely be unable to work her part time job as a Medical Assistant and I won’t be able to work on days that she has doctor appointments.

- Covering the cost of childcare; Deanna is the primary care giver to our two daughters. Getting childcare is to make sure Emilia and Celestine can be watched and taken care of during any doctor appointments, during any potential surgeries (including post-op recovery), as well as normal days when I (James) am working due to the extreme exhaustion and pain Deanna has been in.

Thank you for your time and for reading this far. Your support would mean the world to Deanna and me as we try to navigate through this with our 3-year-old and 11-month-old. Every little bit will be of help! And if donating is something you cannot do at this time then please share our story with your friends and family as we navigate this. 

A little bit about gastroparesis:

- Gastroparesis is a condition that affects the stomach muscles and prevents proper stomach emptying, which can affect digestion. Some major symptoms include nausea and a full feeling after little food is eaten. For example, imagine you ate a sandwich and vomited that very same sandwich 4 hours later, undigested. It’s brutal on the body, especially when flares last longer than a few days.

For some people, gastroparesis affects the quality of their life but is not life-threatening. They might be unable to complete certain activities or work during flare-ups. Others like Deanna, however, face potentially deadly complications. As her condition has worsened during this most recent flare, Deanna has had to seek constant IV fluid treatments to stay hydrated, has been unable to eat or drink and hold down most meals, and has been constantly nauseous and in severe pain.

Gastroparesis is a debilitating disease that can be considered a disability. There’s no cure for gastroparesis. It’s a chronic, long-term condition that can’t be reversed, only managed with limited options.