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Help for David Chilton (Chilly)


Twenty days ago David Chilton (Chilly) had surgery to remove a cancerous lesion from his colon.  What was supposed to be a simple procedure that would have him home in 3 days has turned into a total nightmare. Over the next 7 days, my dad would have 2 more emergency surgeries.

Within 48 hours of his original surgery he was showing signs of sepsis. There was a leak the size of a pinhead at the site of the colon resection. Over the next several days the progress was slow, but it seemed he was moving toward recovery from the sepsis and 2nd surgery.

On Friday, July 26th, exactly 1 week from his original surgery, his body began to fail. We had just celebrated the night before with news that his CT scan showed everything working perfectly, "No leaks. No blockages." When we arrived at the hospital on Friday morning things did not seem right. He had a fever, his blood pressure was dropping, his heart-rate was increasing, his breathing was off, his white blood cell count was up from the day before, and the story his body was telling was the opposite of "everything working perfectly".

Over the next 7 hours his body continued to crash before he was, once again, rushed away for his 3rd surgery in 1 week. The sidewall of his colon had "completely blown out". This is how his surgeon explained it to us and then said, if they had not done surgery when they did, my dad would've have been dead by midnight.

It is a miracle that he even made it through the 3rd surgery - when we asked the doctor if he thought dad could handle a third surgery, he said, "I don't know, but he will for sure die without it." The events of that day continue to replay over and over in my mind. We were so close to losing him!

David is facing a long and hard road to recovery. He is very weak from having 3 major gut surgeries in 1 week (the wound is still partially open from the 3rd surgery and he has a wound vac to help with the healing and eventual closing of the surgery site).  He is still very sick from having sepsis in his body back to back and is now suffering emotionally and mentally from all the trauma he has endured over the last 20 days. The next step to recovery will be a Long Term Acute Care Hospital(LTACH).  The average stay for patients is 30 days. 

Here is how you can help!

The medical bills alone will be a significant burden! They also will not have any income throughout his very long road to recovery. Your donations will go directly to help cover the medical cost not covered by insurance, as well as, the loss of wages for both of them.  David is a freelance camera operator for the Nashville Predators and video director. His wife, Mendy, just started a new job with a medical sales company and is currently on personal leave without pay until David is able to come home.  

David, Mendy and son, JD


David (PawPaw) with his grandkids and adult children.



After surgery #3


No more tubes and looking better! 
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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $100 
    • 5 yrs
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Organizer and beneficiary

Christina Leinen
Organizer
Nashville-Davidson, TN
Mendy Chilton
Beneficiary
Raised $4,435 from 30 donations

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