Help Shelly: Life Threatening Surgery & Diagnosis

Hey guys,

I'm writing this on behalf of my mom, Michelle Schleicher, who has been put through a whirlwind the last few months. After trying to find answers for a wide-variety of symptoms for the last year and a half, answers were scarce to none. Then came New Years Eve 2023, an emergency room visit led to the discovery of an incarcerated incisional hernia, dating back to an appendectomy in February 2013. After a full night in the ER, the surgeon was confident this was the primary cause of all of her symptoms. Surgery was immediately scheduled for January 3rd. It was supposed to be a routine procedure, potentially going home that very night. Unfortunately, that was far from the case. Her colon was punctured during the surgery, a hole could not be found, so a partial colon resection was necessary.

Next came even more complications and even worse news. During the surgery, they found that she had cirrhosis of the liver, which hit particularly close to home. Her mother, Teresa Haberli, passed away in August 2022 from liver failure, after a decades long battle and undergoing a liver transplant. It was her worst fear come true.

After spending a week in the hospital on IV and antibiotics, she was discharged. She was referred to a liver specialist in Green Bay, so we soon met with him to get answers and a proper diagnosis, so we could promptly start a treatment plan. The very next day, she woke up with a high temperature. A CT scan showed that she had a small abscess where her colon was reconnected. The surgeon was confident that a course of antibiotics would clear it right up. The pain the infection caused was excruciating.

Shortly after stopping the antibiotics, the infection flared up again. Another CT scan showed that the abscess had grown, and the game plan was to still take the conservative route and put her on another course of antibiotics. A few days later, she developed cellulitis on her abdomen, as well as a high fever. She was immediately sent to St. Vincent's in Green Bay. They discovered that she had a large hole in her colon at the incision site, leaking into her abdominal structures. The infection was pushing its way to the surface and caused severe, life threatening cellulitis. After spending many days at the hospital, she was sent home with antibiotics and a drain, with the hopes the hole would close with the abscess being drained.

She made slow improvements over a few weeks, until early Easter Sunday morning, she woke up with an extremely high temperature yet again. She was transferred by ambulance back to St. Vincent's due to the severity of the infection - the abscess had grown. Another drain was placed. A team of specialists came together to decide how best to treat such a complicated case. They decided that the hole would not close on its own, so another colon resection will be required. During all of this, treatment for her cirrhosis had to be pushed to the side until after the colon was healed. Her liver specialist and her surgeon wanted to do an upper endoscopy to check for portal hypertension and esophageal varices - blood vessels that have a high risk of rupturing, essentially causing a person to bleed to death. During this procedure, they found five large grade 3 varices that immediately needed to be banded, they were ready to burst. On top of all this, her stomach veins were mildly enlarged, as well as an enlarged spleen and gallbladder.

She was finally diagnosed with NASH (Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis). This is a very rare and aggressive type of fatty liver disease.

As of April 5th, she was discharged with antibiotics and a drain in place to keep the infection at bay. The intention is to have another colon resection in the next couple weeks. It's a very high risk surgery due to both her advanced cirrhosis and long standing infection. The worry is that the colon has been damaged too much to make a clean connection, as well as any potential bleeding due to liver disease. This would mean rerouting everything to a colostomy bag for three months in the hopes it would heal before trying again. We're hoping that this next surgery goes as planned so we can start focusing on treatment for her long term battle. We don't know exactly what's down the road, but she'll need an upper endoscopy every 4-8 weeks for the time being, as well as getting her pre registered to be on a liver transplant list. It’s been a long road, and an even longer one ahead for our family.

In addition to the stress of it all, there's the financial uncertainty. Mom has missed over three months of work with no timeline on when she'll be ready to return. She helps run the craft department called "Creative Time" at The Rushes Resort in Bailey's Harbor. She does arts and crafts with the guests, and she truly enjoys it and is anxious to return. We are so grateful to her employers for being so compassionate, helpful, and understanding. Our family has also had to miss multiple days of work to get her to appointments, procedures, and surgeries with no end in sight. We are so grateful for all of our family, friends, and coworkers for their continued support, such as cooking meals, prayers, visits, and positive thoughts.

Mom and Dad are also the sole caretakers for their two adult special needs children. With Dad bringing the only paycheck in the household of four, money has been very tight and its been a struggle to keep up with bills. Not to mention the additional expenses, including medical bills, medical supplies, prescriptions, trips to Green Bay, and everything in between. For those of you who know my mom Shelly, you know she has too much pride to ask for help. My sister and I know it’s time to ask for help, it's essential, as we've seen the burden and know now that there is no end in sight.

Mom has been a caretaker to any family member that has ever needed it. Beyond caring for her children, she helped care for our Grandpa Schleicher when he was diagnosed with dementia. She helped out her aging father, visiting twice a week to go grocery shopping, cleaning, prescriptions, appointments, and just to be there and spend time with him. Just about two years ago, she made multiple trips out of town caring for her dying mother, helping with dogs, cleaning, cooking meals, and taking care of her general needs. And just recently, up until her surgery, twice a week she would take our Grandma Schleicher to all of her appointments, shopping, etc. Mom is the most loving, kind, generous, compassionate, creative, and helpful person. We're blessed everyday we get to spend with her. And after spending her entire life being a loving caretaker, it's time we do the same. While this fundraiser won't cure her physical ailments, any and all donations will alleviate her financial stress. Please consider helping this wonderful mother, wife, sister, aunt, friend, neighbor, and member of our community. She needs it.

Thank you,

The Schleicher Family