Help the DeBroecks
As most of you already know, Michael (Mikey) and Lauren DeBroeck were both diagnosed with Covid-19 in mid July. On July 22, Mikey was admitted to Willis Knighton North hospital due to difficulty breathing and low oxygen saturations and Lauren quickly followed him there and was admitted on July 24. Both were placed in the same Covid ICU unit shortly after their admissions and have both been battling the complications due to this terrible virus ever since.
After 10 long terrifying days of being in the ICU, Lauren was discharged from the hospital but had to go home on 4L of oxygen, which she is still currently on! Although the pain of leaving Mikey behind at the hospital was unbearable - Anna Claire, Hudson, and Trey needed their Mom home.
Unfortunately, on July 26, they weren’t able to keep Mikey’s oxygen levels where they needed to be with the Bi-Pap machine and so he had to be placed on a ventilator. Then on August 3 (the day Lauren was discharged), he was placed on an ECMO machine (a device that filters his blood out and in, while acting as a third lung and performing the oxygen exchange that your lungs normally do - allowing his lungs time to rest and heal). Doctors have made it very clear that Mikey’s road to recovery will be very long and will be much like a roller coaster, so many ups and downs and have they been forever right!! The days and nights have been so long for everyone that loves Mikey and there’s been so many highs and lows over the last 5 weeks!
Although Lauren wants nothing more than to get back to normal life again - we are very aware that she is just having to alter what was once “normal”! She loves her job as a photographer and wants to get back to work ASAP - but with her oxygen demands still so critical, it will be a few more weeks before she is able to get back to working full time! While Lauren is still trying to recover from the complications of covid, continuing to raise 3 children, while also trying to be by her husband’s side, day in and day out - the weight of all of this is overwhelming to say the least!
With all of that being said, you can only begin to imagine the financial burden of all of this on Lauren. With not only her being out of work for who knows how long, but also with Mikey on short term disability now (clearing only a very small portion of his check, not including the overtime they are used to him bringing home), their income has declined tremendously! Unfortunately, normal monthly bills are still steadily coming in along with already receiving medical bills from their stays in the hospital! Although the stress, anxiety, and heartache are things that none of us can completely alleviate, I have started this GoFundMe in an attempt to help relieve some of the financial stress that Lauren is facing during this excruciating time!
We thank everyone that has donated food, gifts, money, etc to this amazing family! Lauren and the kids are forever grateful for all of the generosity that so many have shown them already! If you are able to help in any way, it would be much appreciated! We also ask that you continue to keep Michael, Lauren, Anna Claire, Hudson, and Trey in your daily prayers!
