Help Karen Elliott Recover From her 2nd Surgery

Hi there, my name is Beverly Seip and I started this Go Fund Me for my friend Karen Elliott because she needs our help with her recovery from a SECOND surgery, and more time off work to recover. Karen went into the Trail hospital on November 3, for an open Total hysterectomy (removal of uterus and cervix), and bilateral salpingectomy (removal of both tubes) to remove fibroid tumours. She awoke from surgery and was told they were not able to complete the surgery because the fibroid mass was much larger than the ultrasound scans revealed (the size of a cantaloupe) and the hospital was not equipped to deal with the complications of a mass of that size. The surgeons informed her that she would have had a 50% chance of dying on the table if they’d continued, so they stapled her abdomen back together. She has been recovering from that surgery and has used up her sick time available from her jobs. She is scheduled to have surgery again on March 27th in Port Moody, which requires her and a driver/helper to travel across the province for this medically necessary surgery. She will fly home after 3 days, which will include 2 nights in a hotel in addition to her stay in the hospital for the surgery, and her helper/driver will drive back on their own. Karen qualifies for medical EI, but it will not be enough income for her to make ends meet with all the additional expenses since she used her savings up during her recovery from the last surgery.

Eight (8) weeks off work, plus another 6 weeks of a gradual return to work are standard. It is very important that women who have this surgery be allowed to heal well without the added stress and physical burden of going to work. Sadly, some women have needed additional surgeries if they exert themselves after a hysterectomy from things like going to work too soon.

My goal here is to ensure Karen has the financial resources to complete her recovery from this medically necessary surgery in a way that will not put her healing in jeopardy, and not cause her additional stress and strain hurrying to get back to her jobs before her body has had a chance to heal.

We estimate that Karen will need $5700 to cover additional expenses needed to complete the next surgery, including time off work for her for 8 weeks and for her travel companion during the time of surgery.

If you have any questions, please direct them to Bev (the creator of the fundraiser).

Thank you for taking the time to read and if you can donate, every little bit helps.