My sweet sister Kimberly McCreary Shepherd has been through a horrible life-threatening situation. In November 2020, she started vomiting, lasting over a week, believing she had the stomach flu. After becoming extremely dehydrated and passing out at home, she was rushed to the hospital. The Emergency Room visit provided a Cat-Scan showing an enlarged bile duct. She was admitted to Bethesda North Hospital for further testing to determine the cause.

Some background: 30 years ago, she had a bowel obstruction. That surgery removed the obstruction but left heavy scar tissue, that later had to be removed and repaired with a reconstruction of the stomach to the duodenum (first part of the small intestines.) Then in November 2020, 30 years later, that last opening made was now closed for the third time.

While now at the hospital, she had an Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EDG), which is a diagnostic procedure to examine the esophagus, stomach, and first part of the small intestine. The testing failed due to uncontrolled vomiting. Then a second EDG showed a large blockage.

She was in the hospital for 8 weeks. Her stomach surgery was suddenly put on hold because she was becoming so malnourished. She then had surgery to insert a feeding tube. She then got

C-Diff-Colitis, while there. After a week of no improvement, very high fever, and being constantly packed in ice, they determined she had caught the COVID-19 virus while there. This was another setback.

In January 2021, she was moved to Cedar Village for Rehabilitation. After a week there, she went home with the feeding tube still inserted. In late January, she met with a new surgeon and set a surgery date for March 1st. This time she entered Good Samaritan Hospital. Because of the blockage, the only way to fix it was to go around it and bypass the blockage. She endured a Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass, changing her stomach and small intestines, so she could absorb and digest food.

After 10 more days at the hospital recovering, she still went home with the feeding tube in case things went wrong with her recovery. She was home 1.5 days and had to go back to the hospital ER because the vomiting was back. She was re-admitted for 9 more days for continued slow healing. She then endured a painful Nasogastric Intubation (NG Tube) to slow the vomiting. It finally stopped and the NG Tube was removed. 2 days later she was sent home, still with the feeding tube.

Finally, 22 weeks later, the feeding tube was removed. She is now on the long road to recovery, after 87 total days in and out of the hospital. Now, besides trying to recover, she is devastated by colossal medical bills. It is my sincere hope that friends, family, and others will open their hearts and donate what they can to help her eliminate her medical bills. Anything you can do is greatly appreciated.