- J
On December 18th, 2019, one week before Christmas, Wayne Hulker, only 53 years old, underwent double-lung transplant surgery. Although the surgery was a success the financial toll of this life-saving surgery cannot be measured yet.
A brief history...
An aggressive form of the lung disease Pulmonary Fibrosis has plagued Wayne for years and finally tethered him to an oxygen tank the last couple of months forcing him to leave his job as a gravel truck driver.
As Wayne's situation deteriorated further in recent weeks doctors informed Wayne that a double-lung transplant was his only hope to live let alone regain any quality of life. Wayne was placed on the transplant list and, because of the seriousness of his condition, was moved to the top of the list. Gratefully, a matching donor was found and on December 18th, 2019, Wayne Hulker underwent double-lung transplant surgery. The 12-hour surgery was a success thanks to the awesome team of doctors, nurses, and staff at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
As of this posting, December 26th, Wayne is still recovering at Henry Ford Hospital. Kim, Wayne's wife of 12 years, is staying at the temporary housing offered by Henry Ford Hospital at a rate of $22 a day. Depending on the progress of his recovery he may remain at the hospital for a few more days or a couple more weeks. Time will tell.
As difficult as the surgery and the circumstances leading up to the surgery were, now the real work begins for both Wayne and Kim.
As may be expected. the weeks after a double-lung transplant are crucial and very busy.
Below is a broad list (from WebMD ) of what Wayne and Kim can expect:
- Regular physical therapy and rehabilitation exercises.
- Education sessions to learn a complicated new lifelong medication plan. (30 pills a day!)
- Frequent visits to the doctor. (5 days a week at first, then, eventually, 2-3 days a week.)
- Regular tests of lung function, chest X-rays, blood tests, and procedures like bronchoscopy.
- A total and drastic change in diet and avoidance of many environmental conditions.
Because of the intensive care Wayne will require for the foreseeable future, Kim was forced to request a Leave of Absence from her full-time job. Kim's job now will be round-the-clock caretaker, nurse, and chauffeur for Wayne. And although she does this with no complaints, the toll this will take on their finances is painful. Like most of us, Kim and Wayne have a mortgage due every month as well as utility bills, insurance costs, food costs, gasoline costs, etc that must be paid. Unfortunately, these debtors don't care much about the personal conditions of their customers - they just need to be paid.
Kim is actively pursuing Social Security disability benefits to assist with the living expenses but until this help arrives they could really use any help you can offer. No donation is too small to help Kim and Wayne in their time of need.
Thank you very much for any help offered!
A brief history...
An aggressive form of the lung disease Pulmonary Fibrosis has plagued Wayne for years and finally tethered him to an oxygen tank the last couple of months forcing him to leave his job as a gravel truck driver.
As Wayne's situation deteriorated further in recent weeks doctors informed Wayne that a double-lung transplant was his only hope to live let alone regain any quality of life. Wayne was placed on the transplant list and, because of the seriousness of his condition, was moved to the top of the list. Gratefully, a matching donor was found and on December 18th, 2019, Wayne Hulker underwent double-lung transplant surgery. The 12-hour surgery was a success thanks to the awesome team of doctors, nurses, and staff at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
As of this posting, December 26th, Wayne is still recovering at Henry Ford Hospital. Kim, Wayne's wife of 12 years, is staying at the temporary housing offered by Henry Ford Hospital at a rate of $22 a day. Depending on the progress of his recovery he may remain at the hospital for a few more days or a couple more weeks. Time will tell.
As difficult as the surgery and the circumstances leading up to the surgery were, now the real work begins for both Wayne and Kim.
As may be expected. the weeks after a double-lung transplant are crucial and very busy.
Below is a broad list (from WebMD ) of what Wayne and Kim can expect:
- Regular physical therapy and rehabilitation exercises.
- Education sessions to learn a complicated new lifelong medication plan. (30 pills a day!)
- Frequent visits to the doctor. (5 days a week at first, then, eventually, 2-3 days a week.)
- Regular tests of lung function, chest X-rays, blood tests, and procedures like bronchoscopy.
- A total and drastic change in diet and avoidance of many environmental conditions.
Because of the intensive care Wayne will require for the foreseeable future, Kim was forced to request a Leave of Absence from her full-time job. Kim's job now will be round-the-clock caretaker, nurse, and chauffeur for Wayne. And although she does this with no complaints, the toll this will take on their finances is painful. Like most of us, Kim and Wayne have a mortgage due every month as well as utility bills, insurance costs, food costs, gasoline costs, etc that must be paid. Unfortunately, these debtors don't care much about the personal conditions of their customers - they just need to be paid.
Kim is actively pursuing Social Security disability benefits to assist with the living expenses but until this help arrives they could really use any help you can offer. No donation is too small to help Kim and Wayne in their time of need.
Thank you very much for any help offered!