Hi! My name is Karen Kinsman and I have started this GoFundMe campaign in support of one of my very best friends of nearly 37 years, Tina Therrien O'Brien, who underwent duodenal switch surgery to revise a surgery done several years ago on 6/14/21 in the Dallas, TX area. Tina lives in the Albany, NY area, but there are only a handful of surgeons nationwide with the expertise and experience necessary to perform the kind of gastric bypass surgery revision Tina needed.
Two days after the surgery, Tina began to experience surgical complications and has been in the ICU since 6/16/21. Tina has a large wound/internal GI leak which means she cannot get out of bed or eat/drink anything by mouth, has an NG tube for nutrition, has to undergo special procedures every few days to work on closing the leak, and she is now fighting a serious potentially life-threatening infection that is likely sepsis. She will soon be transferred to a larger university hospital (probably Baylor) for a specialized CT scan and placement of a stent/drain. Tina is currently on IV antibiotics, TPN, oxygen, insulin and is getting weaker by the day because she cannot currently get out of bed or start any PT/OT exercises.
Tina really, really needs to get back to the Albany area and into a hospital/rehab setting where she can have her family & friends with her. She is very weak, very scared, requires ongoing hospitalization & eventually a rehab facility, and knows she will not be able to travel by commercial airline or rail to get home.
All funds raised (minus the GoFundMe & credit card fees) will go directly to Tina to cover the $25,000-$30,000 cost of getting her home via a specialized medical charter flight. Any donations, small or large, will help us get Tina home. Please help us make sure Tina can be reunited with her family and friends who can rally around her as she continues to heal and recover. We need to raise these funds in the next few weeks as the hope is that Tina will be given the go-ahead to be flown home after the stent/drain are in place and she is stable enough to travel.
If you are unable to donate, please pray for Tina's full and fast recovery.
Thank you so very much!