Donation protected
Hi everyone. This fundraiser is for my fiancé, Eric Sarten. Back in early December, Eric was working under his truck when shards of metal flew into his left eye. Luckily, his parents were at the shop with him and he was able to get to the emergency room quickly. Unfortunately, the doctor couldn't do much for him except rinse the eye out and give him some ophthalmic bacitracin. He advised Eric to return in the morning to see someone in the eye center. The next day, we drove back to find out there wasn't even an eye doctor on staff, so we got back in the car and headed to Traverse City to find a new doctor.
Thanks to Eric’s brother and his wife, they set us up with an appointment at their office, TC Eye. When we arrived, we saw Dr. Ashley Holdsworth-Rossman and she did an incredible job finding the last piece of metal still in his eye. She explained the whole process as she used different drops to numb or dilate his eye and cameras to find the problem. The sliver was about 8mm long and it went through his eye sticking in the back, outer part of the retina. Unfortunately, this meant eye surgery and we were sent to Associated Retinal Consultants to see Dr. Diane Fiander. Once there, she confirmed that Eric would need surgery that afternoon. After a not-so-quick trip to the walk-in clinic to get approved for anesthesia and surgery, we went to Munson. Once there, it was a lot of waiting involved. Thankfully everything went well and Dr. Fiander did an amazing job. They actually had to pull out the jelly from his eye in order to remove the sliver of metal and stitch up any cuts. She was also able to inspect the rest of the eye before placing a bubble inside to hold pressure on the stitches. After a very long day, we finally got to go home.
The next day, we went back to see Dr. Fiander for a follow-up appointment. Eric found out everything that happened during the surgery since he was still out from the anesthesia the night before. She also explained that the lens did have a slight tear and he would need to have cataract surgery within a few months to less than a year. It all depends on how cloudy his vision gets. He was given a patch to wear and was given instructions on what he needed to do and what he wasn’t allowed to do. You wouldn’t think that lifting heavy objects can affect your eyes, but there’s actually pressure that can strain them; especially if there are stitches in one. We picked up an assortment of eye drops at the pharmacy and headed back home exhausted. I think at this point we were both a little depressed but hopeful that everything would heal quickly, and his vision would return.
After about a month of healing, the bubble was finally dissipating enough that he could see figures amongst the blurriness. Things weren’t progressing as quickly as we had hoped, but the doctor kept telling us everything looked good and it would just take time. Around this time, the bills started coming in too. Everyone charges for their services separately, so we had one from the emergency room visit, the eye doctor, the retina specialist/surgeon, the hospital, and the anesthesiologist. Plus, more from the retina specialist every time he went back for a follow-up appointment. Needless to say, it was a bit overwhelming when we started adding it all up.
Eric and I are the kind of people who hate asking for help, but we realized it was finally time and decided to start this fundraiser. We’ve also been trying to plan for our wedding in September and unfortunately things have slowed down temporarily until we can get a handle on these new financial responsibilities. Trying to set up several new payment plans has been a struggle; and we know there will be more to come with cataract surgery in the near future. We're also worried that if we fall behind on the current payments, they may not let him get the surgery when he needs it. Any money donated will go directly toward his medical bills.
I also want to say thank you in advance for helping Eric and I, whether you donate or even just help spread the word by sharing this with friends and family. If you want to share our GoFundMe with someone not on Facebook or Twitter, here is the link. gofundme.com/help-eric-sarten Thank you again!
Thanks to Eric’s brother and his wife, they set us up with an appointment at their office, TC Eye. When we arrived, we saw Dr. Ashley Holdsworth-Rossman and she did an incredible job finding the last piece of metal still in his eye. She explained the whole process as she used different drops to numb or dilate his eye and cameras to find the problem. The sliver was about 8mm long and it went through his eye sticking in the back, outer part of the retina. Unfortunately, this meant eye surgery and we were sent to Associated Retinal Consultants to see Dr. Diane Fiander. Once there, she confirmed that Eric would need surgery that afternoon. After a not-so-quick trip to the walk-in clinic to get approved for anesthesia and surgery, we went to Munson. Once there, it was a lot of waiting involved. Thankfully everything went well and Dr. Fiander did an amazing job. They actually had to pull out the jelly from his eye in order to remove the sliver of metal and stitch up any cuts. She was also able to inspect the rest of the eye before placing a bubble inside to hold pressure on the stitches. After a very long day, we finally got to go home.
The next day, we went back to see Dr. Fiander for a follow-up appointment. Eric found out everything that happened during the surgery since he was still out from the anesthesia the night before. She also explained that the lens did have a slight tear and he would need to have cataract surgery within a few months to less than a year. It all depends on how cloudy his vision gets. He was given a patch to wear and was given instructions on what he needed to do and what he wasn’t allowed to do. You wouldn’t think that lifting heavy objects can affect your eyes, but there’s actually pressure that can strain them; especially if there are stitches in one. We picked up an assortment of eye drops at the pharmacy and headed back home exhausted. I think at this point we were both a little depressed but hopeful that everything would heal quickly, and his vision would return.
After about a month of healing, the bubble was finally dissipating enough that he could see figures amongst the blurriness. Things weren’t progressing as quickly as we had hoped, but the doctor kept telling us everything looked good and it would just take time. Around this time, the bills started coming in too. Everyone charges for their services separately, so we had one from the emergency room visit, the eye doctor, the retina specialist/surgeon, the hospital, and the anesthesiologist. Plus, more from the retina specialist every time he went back for a follow-up appointment. Needless to say, it was a bit overwhelming when we started adding it all up.
Eric and I are the kind of people who hate asking for help, but we realized it was finally time and decided to start this fundraiser. We’ve also been trying to plan for our wedding in September and unfortunately things have slowed down temporarily until we can get a handle on these new financial responsibilities. Trying to set up several new payment plans has been a struggle; and we know there will be more to come with cataract surgery in the near future. We're also worried that if we fall behind on the current payments, they may not let him get the surgery when he needs it. Any money donated will go directly toward his medical bills.
I also want to say thank you in advance for helping Eric and I, whether you donate or even just help spread the word by sharing this with friends and family. If you want to share our GoFundMe with someone not on Facebook or Twitter, here is the link. gofundme.com/help-eric-sarten Thank you again!
Organizer and beneficiary
Michelle Sitko
Organizer
Alden, MI
Eric Sarten
Beneficiary