Help Ernie recover at home

Hello family and friends near and far.

For those who don’t already know me, my name is Carrie Pyle and I am the wife of Aaron Pyle. I have started this GoFundMe to assist my father-in-law Ernie purchase the medical equipment and furniture he needs to be able to recover at his home with his loves, Gail and their dog Joy.

For those unaware of what happened. Sometime during the week of January 24th Ernie fell while at home and didn’t tell anyone. For the next week he was only able to stand/walk with the assistance of a chair that had roller wheels. Aaron went down to Phoenix on February 1st to visit his Dad. Ernie was not in the mood to visit and said he ‘wasn’t feeling well’. Aaron visited with his dad on Tuesday and Friday, and then went to see him on Sunday before leaving to come back home on Monday the 7th.

Ernie had a doctor appointment with his pulmonologist that Monday morning and they did a lung function test and the doctor advised him that he had about 25% of lung function left. Gail wanted to take Ernie to the emergency room, but he refused so they went back home. Gail called and advised me she was worried about Ernie, so I called Aaron and told him to go back to Phoenix. Aaron arrived back in Phoenix and spent the afternoon with Ernie and then left to head to the hotel. Gail called Aaron around 8:00 that evening and said that Ernie had fallen again, and she needed help. By the time Aaron got to Ernie’s house he was blue. Aaron called 911 and performed chest compressions until the paramedics arrived. Ernie was taken to John Lincoln hospital, and they were able to get him stabilized on a ventilator in the ICU. They discovered pneumonia and a bacterial infection in Ernie’s lungs.

Over the last week Ernie has had his ups and downs but yesterday, February 11th we got the good news that they were able to get the ventilator out and he was breathing on his own but then we got the bad news that they discovered a fractured hip that had a badly dislocated femur and required surgery.

Ernie will be heading into surgery tomorrow, Tuesday February 15th, to do a partial hip replacement. Ernie didn’t want the surgery but after talking with the orthopedic doctor everyone agrees that Ernie will have no quality of life without the surgery. There are serious risks involved with going through the surgery, without it Ernie will be bed ridden for many months and has a high risk of blood clots and pneumonia and with his lung capacity being so low he likely won’t make it long.

After the surgery Ernie is going to need a hospital bed, lift chair, wheelchair, bathtub lift, and possibly some other durable medical equipment in place before he will be allowed to go home. Those who know Ernie know that if they attempt to put him in any sort of assisted living facility Ernie will be very upset. Gail is looking into getting some in-home nursing assistance and is working with social worker at the hospital to get that moving. Gail and Ernie are not wealthy people and with the large amount of medical bills they will have even after Medicare pays their portion, monthly prescription costs for both of them, and there regular monthly living expenses finding any extra money to purchase some of these items is extremely stressful for them.

I have created this GoFundMe to help them with the cost of purchasing a lift chair, a tub lift, wheelchair, and hospital bed. If you have the ability to wrap some love around Ernie & Gail and ease some of the stress with any donation it will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to help Ernie live the remainder of his life with dignity.