Jeff Sterling's COVID-19 Recovery Fund

Hi, My name is Brad Sterling and I'm setting up a GoFundMe for my dad, Jeff Sterling. My goal is to alleviate some of the financial burden from Jeff being in the hospital over 130 days and being out of work for 9 months. 

First and foremost, he’s alive and at home and we are thrilled! Below is his story. 

Jeff tested positive with COVID-19 on October 19th, 2020, and did not have any symptoms. He was tested out of an abundance of caution because he was recently around his new granddaughter. On October 23rd, he started having symptoms such as fever, shortness of breath, etc. and finally ended up going to the ER on October 27th. The original plan was to treat him with high flow oxygen and have a bi-pap at night, and he would be home in the next few days. We later found out he had double pneumonia. 

Unfortunately, due to the impact of double pneumonia and COVID on his lungs, his health deteriorated and the medical staff determined he needed to be intubated. This meant Jeff had to go on a ventilator in order to allow his body any chance to recover. If COVID taught us anything, it’s how much we take for granted being able to be by your loved one’s bedside in a time of need. Kelley Sterling, Jeff’s wife, was the only person allowed in the room, and she held the phone as close family members had a short Face Time to say “We Love You” and our potential final goodbyes. Jeff was intubated for 6 days and on November 13th, he had a temporary trach placed in his throat so he could continue to breathe. The doctors said he would need longer to recover and the trach was the only option we had.

Shortly after, Jeff received a feeding tube and the family was optimistic that the worst the behind us. Jeff moved to Kindred South on December 2nd, where he continued his recovery. The plan was to wean him off the ventilator support. His lungs were still extremely weak, but Jeff was starting to make progress in his recovery. On December 20th, Jeff was rushed back to the ER and had suffered a collapsed lung, septic shock, and had his 3rd round of pneumonia.

As crazy as life was at that point, we all couldn’t stop thinking that Jeff was only 55 years old, and didn’t have any underlying health conditions. The doctors were stunned that this all happened to a young healthy adult male, and to this day we can’t point to one thing as the root cause. 

Jeff remained in the Mercy South ER/ICU until he was moved to Select Specialty at Missouri Baptist on January 16th, 2021. The goal again was to wean Jeff off the ventilator and help him start to regain his muscle. In October 2020, Jeff weighed about 210 lbs., and after he got to Select he weighed just 155 lbs. While at Select, Jeff made his biggest improvements. Jeff had the trach taken out on February 1st, which was a huge accomplishment. He could finally talk out loud for the first time in months! He also got to drop the feeding tubes, chest tubes from the collapsed lung, along with various other medications. While we were at Mercy in December, they felt Jeff was going to have the chest tubes the rest of his life! Jeff finally made it back home on March 5th, where he was welcomed home by a small parade of family and friends. 
 

In total, Jeff spent:

86 days on a ventilator

80 on trach

91 days on feeding tube


The Sterling Family needs YOUR help! Jeff has been home since March and is continuing rehab, and we all are hopeful he will make a full recovery. The money will go directly to medical bills. In addition, Kelley was only working part-time so she could spend as much time as possible with Jeff. Kelley was the best advocate for Jeff, and helped communicate his needs during a time where he couldn’t speak for himself. 

Today, Jeff continues to get stronger every day and has returned to his job! The Sterling's are very thankful for all of the medical staff that have assisted him throughout his time in the hospitals and are beyond happy to still have Jeff in our lives. He will continue to be a son, husband, father, brother, and grandpa to his family. Also a thank you to the family and friends who have supported the Sterling’s throughout this time. 

**Important Note**
As of the time this was created, we set a goal based on the medical bills we have received. We are actively trying to dispute claims, negotiate balances, and seek as much assistance as we can to help relieve the burden of the medical bills. As you know, insurance is not straightforward and there are a lot of complexities. Below is an example of one bill. 

Our biggest ask is to please SHARE this GoFundMe with your network, and as always leave your words of encouragement for Jeff below.