Life saving surgery for mama

Hello, my name is Cheryl. I am a mother, a wife, a sister, an Aunt, a daughter and a dedicated and hardworking individual with a job that I truly love.

On April 28, 2022 I had my gallbladder removed emergently due to it being 100% full of stones. I had suffered from debilitating abdominal pain for months at that point and chalked it up to my ulcer acting up. I could not have been more wrong. All seemed to go fairly well aside from the expected surgical pain until May 3. I was at work, business as usual working from home, when what I can only describe as the most intense pain of my life hit me like a freight train. That pain spread rapidly up my chest, into my back, into my abdomen and was so intense that I was clawing at my own skin trying to be able to breathe. I thought it was a heart attack. My daughter called 911 and worked diligently to keep me breathing until they got here. I was shipped from our local hospital to Fort Sanders Regional due to my liver enzymes being at the 1,000 mark and organs shutting down. I had stones and a polyp that were causing my common bile duct to be completely closed off. They went back in and cleared the blockage and started getting me back on track. I spent just over a week at the hospital. I started experiencing the most intense itching and my skin was opening up all over. I figured this was from my liver taking such a hard hit from the stones that were stuck. I didn’t pay it much mind, but hindsight is always 20/20.

Shortly after arriving home, I had a grand mal seizure and was brought right back to the hospital. I have never had a seizure before. They had no idea what caused it at that time and sent me back home. Things progressed steadily in the wrong direction. I started losing weight, having non stop abdominal pain and swelling, broke out in hives daily, skin crusted and open in every nook and cranny, turned red all over and losing my hair in handfuls. It progressed to difficulty breathing, wheezing, being beyond exhausted, swelling so badly I could barely see my feet looking down. At this point, it was determined that I was having a reaction to something so I was put on steroids that I remain on to this day.

I was sent to an allergist who advised that they needed to pull me off of the steroids to do further testing to see what I was allergic to. I stopped them for one single day, they wanted me off of them for 30 days, and had to go right back in because I could not breathe, I had ripped my skin open from so much scratching that I had to be put on antibiotics for infection caused by my scratching. I was sent to a dermatology/immunology group because my doctor said there was no way that allergist could keep me off of the steroids for 30 days. I would not make it if I could not make it one day.

This dermatologist took one look at me and knew exactly what was going on. I’ve had a problem with jewelry, especially nickel, that has been lifelong. I can only tolerate pure sterling or jewelry made from ropes without any metal in it. My piercing jewelry consists of pure sterling, ceramic or plastic only. Nothing else. Apparently when they pulled my gallbladder, they left clips containing trace amounts of nickel and made primarily from titanium. I was never asked about metal allergies and never associated them with anything but jewelry. I was not told that I would have metal left inside of my body permanently. My body was reacting severely to the metal implanted inside of me. I had worn my Apple Watch to that visit because I was watching my heart rate. That watch leaves blisters on my wrist where the magnet sits every time. When he saw this, he immediately confirmed what he suspected. Great, we know what is wrong, let’s fix this! It was not going to be that simple.

Apparently there are very few surgeons willing to remove surgical clips due to the liability involved. It requires working on Cystic arteries, within the biliary tree and removing adhesions and can cause damage to the arteries, bowel damage, biliary damage and so much more. This is further complicated by my sensitivity to metals. He reached out to countless surgical groups across Tennessee, none were willing to touch me. One group, a surgical group in Knoxville, sent my case to every one of their surgeons and advised that they would not take my case. They advised me that if my reactions continued to worsen and became too severe, I could not be helped. They said I should make preparations, prepare for the worst and wished me the best. That was that. My reactions continue to progress now and the steroids are barely keeping them at bay. I now rely on an inhaler, benzonotate to keep me able to speak without coughing, steroids, antihistamines etc. They are barely cutting it. It feels like a house has landed on my chest every single day and the slightest bit of movement makes it that much harder to catch my breath.

Doing my due diligence, I have researched to the ends of the earth and have found 5 surgeons who will remove surgical clips within the country. One is located in Miami with amazing credentials. I spoke with him, after sending all of my medical records, and he agreed to remove them for me with assistance from other specialists. There are huge risks involved, he made this very clear to me and spent an hour going over them in depth and without sugar coating them. But it has to happen. If I stop taking the steroids, I will decline rapidly and that will be that. If I stay on the steroids, I am weakening by the day and my bones hurt so much from being on them for so long. I cannot increase the dose and the dose I am taking is not helping in the way that it should be. Staying on them is not an option either.

This doctor realized that time is of the essence and needs me in Miami on 1/5 and expects me to be able to leave and return home by 1/18. Between lodging, flights and the Maximum out of pocket for my insurance company, I am looking at trying to come up with at least $6,000, not including anything like medications, food etc, as soon as possible to have this surgery. There may be substantial risks involved, but the risks of not having the surgery are ultimately death. I am not willing to lay down and give up. I need my family, and they need me.

I am not fond of asking for help with much of anything at all. But right now, I am left with no other choice. I am seeking donations to help get us to Miami, to help pay for the surgery itself and to get us safely home so I can spend more time here with my family in the future. I want to watch my children grow. I want to be able to fuss and fight with them, watch them go through the good and bad and just be there with them. Any donation at all would be greatly appreciated. If you cannot donate, please take your time to pray for our family. This has been unimaginable to wrap our brains around. I am so afraid, but at the same time I am staying as strong as humanly possible for my family.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please feel free to share as you see fit. Our family truly appreciates each and every one of you for taking the time to read this and for your prayers and thoughts along the way.