Help for Joe and Rochelle: Medical and Travel Assistance

4/28/25

We are still hopeful that Joe is transferred to the rehab facility in Grand Junction tomorrow. He was able to stand today

4/27/25

Today Joe is able to sit up by himself and he is to feed himself from a bowl like fruit cup and yogurt. His feet aren’t nearly as swollen. (He has wrinkles on his toes today.)

His foot pain is starting to go away as well he said the meds are finally starting to work.

We are working on getting him transferred. We need to get a biPAP, which we are working on. Once we get that, he has to be on it for two nights before the rehab facility will accept him. We are hoping Tuesday is the lucky day!

4/26/25

On Friday We tried like crazy to try to get them to send a referral for us to Grand Junction. We had been told this was already done, but it had not been. We were hoping to get him home this weekend or at least to a rehabilitation center in Grand Junction.. After much pushing and many phone calls, we got the referral sent over at about 1:00 on Friday, but they did not get the prescription for the biPAP written on Friday.

We are hoping on Monday they can get that sent over. Even though we are buying the biPAP outright without insurance, we still need a prescription.

He will likely be going back to Grand Junction Monday or Tuesday next week… we are hopeful that by then he’ll be walking and may not have to go back to the rehabilitation Facility. Ashley is staying with Joe this weekend in Denver, Trevor and Jessica will be driving up Sunday and staying there until he comes home. (We are hoping that’s Monday or Tuesday.)

If Joe has to go to the rehab center in Grand Junction, the ambulance ride to Grand Junction will not be covered by insurance. They will only pay for a ride to the nearest facility, and we need him in Grand Junction so that we do not have to continue to stay in Denver and pay for a hotel.

I started this GoFundMe for my father-in-law Joseph Lawton.

Joe went to the emergency room on April 14th, because he was anemic and his oxygen was very low.

They admitted him because they found a GI bleed that needs to be operated on. They gave him two blood transfusions and an iron transfusion and a few days into his stay at Community, they found that he had pneumonia.

They explained to us at time that he needed to be transferred to UC Health in Denver, Colorado for the procedure for his G.I. bleed. (The scope here in Junction was not long enough to do the procedure.)

We had to wait for a bed to open in Denver for him to be able to get transferred.

They were finally able to transfer him on Saturday, April 19th.

Joe was flown to UCHealth in Denver. There they continued to treat him for pneumonia, and monitor his oxygen levels.

His oxygen levels have also been a struggle to maintain. His kidney functions have been low as well, so they are withholding some medication’s. Joe also developed a gout outbreak in his foot and leg during his time in the hospital. They cannot treat his gout because his kidneys are not strong enough right now for the medication and the can cause additional bleeding issues.

Having congestive heart failure on top of all the other things going on, his heart is currently not strong enough to be put under for the procedure so they have decided at this time to transfer him back to Junction and do the procedure in 4 to 6 weeks. They are hoping his kidneys, heart, and body will be able to handle the anesthesia better at that time.

Because Joe has sat in the hospital bed not moving for over a week. He is now unable to stand or even lift his limbs. He is working with PT every day to sit up and move his arms and legs and eventually stand.

As of right now, they’re hoping to release him to a rehab facility in Grand Junction to get care so that he is able to work on his movement and being able to stand and walk again.

When Joe is released to the rehab facility, he will need a BiPAP machine as his body is now holding extra CO2 and his current CPap machine will not help remove this build up from his body. At this time health insurance will not yet cover the new machine for him. This machine is very expensive and we will have to pay out-of-pocket for it. Health insurance needs a prescription, pre-authorization, and a sleep test in order to cover it and we do not have time to wait for all of that as it will take weeks or longer.

Joe has two children, Ashley Scarlett and Trevor Lawton. Both Ashley and Trevor‘s families are doing everything they can to help their parents get through this.

While Joe has been in the hospital, Rochelle has been out of work. Rochelle is the only working member in the household.

Currently, someone has had to stay with Joe every night. That is typically Trevor or Ashley because they are strong enough to help him move if he needs to move. This also makes it difficult for them to be able to work.

While they are staying at the hospital in Denver, it is costing them a nightly stay at a hotel plus food and travel expenses.

Once Joe is cleared to have the procedure, they will need to travel back to Denver to have the procedure done.

We are starting this go fund me to help cover their travel costs and medical expenses. We appreciate anyone’s help at this time.