Jason Smith's Medical Fund
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As most of you know, Jason was admitted to the hospital on May 25th, 2020. He was tested the day before, for COVID-19. After taking his test, he was sent home to isolate, and advised to call 911 if his symptoms worsened. Twelve hours later, he slammed our bedroom door open, purple in the face and lips, gasping for air. I immediately called an ambulance, and he was rushed to the Virginia Beach General Emergency Room. Upon arrival, they administered a second COVID-19 test, and ran scans and X-rays on his head, neck and chest. The results for both came back simultaneously, testing negative for COVID-19, but showing a large abscess that formed in his airway, and was blocking more oxygen by the minute. He was quickly sedated and transferred over to Sentara Norfolk General the same day for emergency surgery. He was under the care of an ENT specialist who was able to remove the abscess within a few hours. After his surgery, he was admitted into ICU, and his surgeons touched base with me. Jason had a rare infection in his throat, that caused the abscess to form. Where the infection came from is still, to this day, undetermined. Their plan was to keep him on a ventilator with heavy sedation the next three days, before they go back in and close everything up. When that day came, we were expecting to see a healthy Jason come back to us, but things had turned in the wrong direction. He returned from surgery, swollen, still hooked to the ventilator, and attached to even more machines and tubing. The infection was persistent, and spreading. The infection was also sitting directly on top of major blood vessels, and arteries. Which, if the infection started attacking them, would rupture, causing hemorrhaging, and that would be it for him. They began aggressively fighting back, by inducing him into a medical coma so he could not move, attaching him to a wound vac that would suction the site, while also flushing medical grade bleach into his throat 24/7. During the two weeks of his coma, they were not able to reposition him, in hopes it would cue the infection to stop spreading. He had several surgeries during this period, grand totaling to a number of five within three weeks, and was hooked to a ventilator during his entire stay in ICU. Thankfully, their efforts began to work, and Jason's body fought back. The infection diminished, and they were able to close up. They removed his wound vac, and performed a tracheotomy, to ween him off the ventilator. We hear his voice now through a speaking valve, and that will be status quo for the next couple of months. He is completely coherent from his coma now, and has begun the long journey of physical therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy. During his coma, he also developed a blood clot in his lung, as well as his leg, which he will need medication for for several weeks.
This GoFundMe page is to help him get back in the saddle. To be transparent, I think we can all agree that American healthcare is a joke. Even with the best insurance possible, medical bills can become astronomical within a matter of hours. He has been in the hospital for over a month, and has no set date for discharge yet. Just sitting in a bed for one day in ICU costs up to $8,000, and that is where Jason spent the majority of his time. Jason is a new business owner, and has spent a lot of time, effort and money to start up over the past year. I have watched him overcome so many trials and tribulations, and will do anything, hopefully with the help of you guys, to keep his dreams alive. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you in advance for donating, and sharing.
Fundraising team (2)
Heidi Fucile
Organiser
jason smith
Beneficiary
Jason Smith
Team member