"Hand in Hand"  we hope to raise money to help Leigh-ann and her family with some of the medical and daily expenses  the family has had to take on.   Due to a major heart attack in June of 2018, Leigh-ann was Life-Flighted from St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont to Memorial Hermann in Houston. Leigh-ann’s heart sustained extensive damage that will require either a heart transplant or Left Ventricular Assistance Device (LVAD; heart pump). As a side effect of treatment, Leigh-ann also sustained a drop-foot. After several weeks in the hospital she was released to go home on numerous medications and a Life-Vest (defibrillator) that would eventually be replaced with an internal AED. Weekly doctor visits to Houston would continue for several months.
Some time passed and the doctor recommended Leigh-ann begin rehabilitation to learn to walk on her own with the drop-foot. This required travel to the TIRR Rehabilitation Facility in Houston every weekday for six straight weeks. After rehabilitation the decision was made to begin the evaluation for a heart transplant so her case could be presented to the Transplant Review Board. However, during the evaluation an underlying pulmonary issue was discovered. The Transplant Review Board denied her the heart transplant but approved her for an LVAD (heart pump). To help improve her pulmonary condition Leigh-ann was placed on a permanent IV that requires home health to come in weekly.
In early January of 2021, Leigh-ann visited her doctor and found that her underlying pulmonary condition had improved, making her doctor hopeful he could soon begin the process of trying to get her on the heart transplant list. Shortly after, Leigh-ann was brought back to St. Elizabeth and again transported to Memorial Hermann in Houston. This time, she suffered from a major infection causing her body to go into septic shock. This caused more heart damage and resulted in kidney failure. Due to vasopressors, medication used to sustain her heart, she developed necrosis in her right hand and right foot. Leigh-ann would spend 55 days at Memorial Herman. Most days without visitors due to COVID-19 protocols.
After being released from the hospital Leigh-ann returned home and this time began experiencing severe back pain. In a couple of week it was discovered the infection had spread into some of her neck vertebrates. Leigh-ann was taken back to Memorial Herman where neurosurgery would perform a very high risk 8 hour surgery on her neck. Leigh-ann is still in the hospital waiting to have her feeding tube removed so she can return home again. Her stay in the hospital has been 20 days as of the writing of this narrative, for a total of 75 days in the hospital during 2021.
Moving forward, Leigh-ann will need to have a minimum of 3 fingers partially amputated, her thumb completed amputated, and there is a possibility of partial loss of several toes. Her kidneys are improving but she will still require weekly visits to her Houston doctors including advanced Advanced Heart Failure Cardiology, Neurology, Nephrology, Pulmonology, Urology, Infectious Disease, Endocrinologist, and Cardia Electrophysiology. There are many obstacles for Leigh-ann to overcome just to get back to the point where the doctor will even consider her for advanced therapies (transplant, LVAD). But she does have HOPE!
If all you can do is Pray for Leigh-ann, PLEASE DO!
P.S. Thank you to all the people over the last 3 years who have prayed for Leigh-ann, put her on prayer list, always called or sent a text messages, and provided for the family in so many way. They are forever grateful.