Helping Ron Dilbeck

Hi my name is Alana. I am Ron's stepdaughter; I am fundraising to help my family with medical bills. On January 19th, two days after his 56th Birthday, Ron was rushed to the hospital by ambulance after he had collapsed at work. He was taken into the Cath lab upon arrival, where it was discovered that he had suffered a widowmaker heart attack. A widowmaker is a massive heart attack that occurs when the left anterior artery is totally or almost completely blocked. Ron was immediately taken into surgery. Ron’s wife, Vicky, received a phone call from him just before he collapsed telling her he thought he was having a heart attack and then shortly after received a phone call from the hospital telling her to get there as soon as possible. Vicky made it to the hospital in Elgin while Ron was still in surgery. She was met by a Chaplain who sat with her and told her the seriousness of what happened. Together they waited for an update. The first update came that Ron had coded three times during surgery, but a stent was successfully placed in his main coronary artery and he would be sent to the ICU to recover where she would be able to see him once he was settled in a room. Once she was brought to the ICU to visit him, the stent that was just placed collapsed and caused Ron to code once again. Ron was placed on a LUCAS device for 28 minutes of compressions while Nurses and Doctors worked hard to bring him back. Once ROSC (return of spontaneous circulation) was achieved, Ron was taken into surgery again. A pump was placed to circulate blood flow to the heart during this surgery. The pump didn’t take to his body, causing his right leg to lose circulation. Another surgery was done and Ron was placed on an ECMO machine. The ECMO machine is similar to the heart-lung by-pass machine used in open-heart surgery. It pumps and oxygenates a patient's blood outside the body, allowing the heart and lungs to rest. Ron was transferred to a level 1 trauma center hospital near Chicago. When Ron arrived to the Level 1 trauma center on January 20th, he was on a ventilator, ECMO machine and had to have emergency surgery on his leg immediately upon arrival to relieve pressure and allow room for swelling. He received blood transfusions during this time also due to blood loss from surgery. On January 21st, Ron had to start dialysis still while sedated. On January 24th, Sedation was lightened and by the 25th, Ron was taken off the ventilator. While Ron has improved since his arrival at the second hospital, he is still having many ups and downs and is still dependent on the ECMO machine and dialysis. The goal right now is for Ron’s kidneys to begin to function on their own so he will be eligible for a LVAD (left ventricular assist device) and a RVAD (right ventricular assist device). He has only been able to go without dialysis for a short time before having to resume treatments due to fluid overload and lack of kidney function. Once Ron is able to have the surgeries that he needs, he will be eligible to go on the heart transplant list. The next big goal after LVAD & RVAD placement surgery is to get Ron back home while he awaits a transplant. His entire family including his wife, children, grandchildren, siblings, parents, coworkers and friends miss him unimaginably. During this time, his wife, Vicky, is making the 1 hour, 45-minute drive near Chicago to visit him as often as possible. She is the only one allowed to visit per Covid protocols at this time sadly. Unfortunately, the travel expenses are continually growing and the medical bills have started coming in and are extremely overwhelming. Any monetary donations made for Ron will be put towards medical bills and travel expenses, as they are quickly adding up. If you find it in your heart to donate, our family would be forever grateful. More importantly, our family is asking for thoughts and prayers. Your support is very much appreciated during Ron's long road to recovery. Thank you for your time!