Support Sarah
Donation protected
Everyone who knows Sarah...loves her. She has such a sweet, bubbly personality that affects all around her! She met her (now) husband Matt, and found her dream job of becoming a labor and delivery nurse! after a while, she and her husband tried for a family, and finally... after plenty of disappointments.... they got pregnant!!! Her pregnancy went fairly smooth and the closer to her due date they became more and more excited. Matt even hand-made the baby's crib! On October 9th Sarah went in to the hospital and was ready for baby to arrive! Labor went surprisingly quick and when she began to push something just wasn't right. They decided to perform a c-section when suddenly Sarah became unresponsive and the baby's heart rate dropped. She was rushed emergently into the OR where the baby was born and she immediatley began bleeding. While 3 surgeons worked on her for over 4 hours, her newborn SON, Aaron Matthew :), was taken to neonatal ICU and started on brain cooling while being prepared for transport to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. After more than 15 units of blood and multiple medications, Sarah awoke in ICU still on the ventilator...and missing her baby. As expected he was the first thing she asked about . While still in ICU she had 2 additional surgeries. When she was deemed stable she was transferred back to the OB floor to be with her coworkers. Because she was unable to travel, Sarah's mom went to be with Aaron in Pittsburgh.
It was finally determined that Sarah had suffered from a rare condition called an AMNIOTIC FLUID EMBOLUS (AFE). which promptly led her into DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulation which caused her excessive bleeding in the OR). AFEs are quite rare occuring in 1:40,000 births and most medical professionals learn of only in textbooks. AFEs are up to 80% fatal for the mom and 65% fatal for the baby. Those who DO survive often have long term neurological defecits and may even be admitted to long term care facilities. Thankfully...Sarah and Aaron have survived with no deficits to date!
Eventually on October 18th Sarah and Matt were able to meet their son. He was SO beautiful!!! Unfortunately her post partum period was not what it should have been...she ended up with a uterine infection requiring yet ANOTHER surgery and additional hospitalization. Then came a DVT (clot) in her leg requiring her to go home and give herself injections. As if this wasn't enough, she was readmitted 3 more times with the same infection issues and eventually needed a central line. At the end of December it was determined she would need to travel to a Pittsburgh hospital for another evaluation. Keep in mind these hospital stays are not overnight...they typically average a week in length!
2 days ago Sarah got a call and was told she needed to report to the Pittsburgh Hospital where she had another MRI and the surgeons determined that they needed to perform a hysterectomy. This can be hard for ANY woman let alone a young woman who has noteven turned 30 yet! Due to the infection she will need to have this surgery performed through an open abdominal incision, will take longer than the average hyster to perform, and will most likely result in a wound vac.
Sarah is tired. And so is Matt. Tired of the hospitals and shots and medicines and mostly....tired of her time with her beautiful son being interrupted time and time again. Though she is tired, she is most definitely thankful. Thankful for her life, for her son/husband, & friends and family and all people have done thus far to help. I know she will be appreciative of ANY money you could donate to help her and Matt stay afloat. As you can imagine Matt is working hard and she has help from family, but the bills are continuing to pile up. To date she has been off work 13 weeks...which as most know is beyond the accepted medical leave for most hospital employees. She is afraid for the stability of her job and for the future. Please...ANYTHING you are able to contribute will be put to good use. Thank you for taking the time to read this and get to know Sarah and her wonderful family.
It was finally determined that Sarah had suffered from a rare condition called an AMNIOTIC FLUID EMBOLUS (AFE). which promptly led her into DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulation which caused her excessive bleeding in the OR). AFEs are quite rare occuring in 1:40,000 births and most medical professionals learn of only in textbooks. AFEs are up to 80% fatal for the mom and 65% fatal for the baby. Those who DO survive often have long term neurological defecits and may even be admitted to long term care facilities. Thankfully...Sarah and Aaron have survived with no deficits to date!
Eventually on October 18th Sarah and Matt were able to meet their son. He was SO beautiful!!! Unfortunately her post partum period was not what it should have been...she ended up with a uterine infection requiring yet ANOTHER surgery and additional hospitalization. Then came a DVT (clot) in her leg requiring her to go home and give herself injections. As if this wasn't enough, she was readmitted 3 more times with the same infection issues and eventually needed a central line. At the end of December it was determined she would need to travel to a Pittsburgh hospital for another evaluation. Keep in mind these hospital stays are not overnight...they typically average a week in length!
2 days ago Sarah got a call and was told she needed to report to the Pittsburgh Hospital where she had another MRI and the surgeons determined that they needed to perform a hysterectomy. This can be hard for ANY woman let alone a young woman who has noteven turned 30 yet! Due to the infection she will need to have this surgery performed through an open abdominal incision, will take longer than the average hyster to perform, and will most likely result in a wound vac.
Sarah is tired. And so is Matt. Tired of the hospitals and shots and medicines and mostly....tired of her time with her beautiful son being interrupted time and time again. Though she is tired, she is most definitely thankful. Thankful for her life, for her son/husband, & friends and family and all people have done thus far to help. I know she will be appreciative of ANY money you could donate to help her and Matt stay afloat. As you can imagine Matt is working hard and she has help from family, but the bills are continuing to pile up. To date she has been off work 13 weeks...which as most know is beyond the accepted medical leave for most hospital employees. She is afraid for the stability of her job and for the future. Please...ANYTHING you are able to contribute will be put to good use. Thank you for taking the time to read this and get to know Sarah and her wonderful family.
Organizer
Abigail Adams Thomas
Organizer
Johnstown, PA
