This gofundme is to raise money for Juan’s recent emergency medical procedures, ongoing treatments, and loss of income for the both of us.

Juan has always been an acts of service and giving person. Anyone that knows him, knows that he always has been willing to give selflessly of his time and money anytime he felt it appropriate regardless of who it was or how well he knows them…just like his father. At this time, we are asking for those that know his giving nature, or those who feel compelled to help, please contribute to complete this goal which will help tremendously. He has never been comfortable with receiving, but due to the nature and timing of this ordeal, he is asking for your help as am I.

This new year did not come as we were hoping. New year’s eve consisted of me sitting beside Juan as he endured pain of what we thought were kidney stones. He has had them before and the symptoms seemed accurate. After a few days of no progress and his pain and discomfort continuing, we went to the ER around midday on 1/4. It was a long process but once they evaluated his CT scan, the ER doctor came in and gave us the horrible, emotional and shocking news. If Juan had waited until the next morning, he might not have made it. They advised us that he had diverticulitis, a ruptured abscess and he was septic. His kidneys were struggling to keep him alive and his entire abdomen had filled with stool resulting in an internal infection. The ER called in Dr. Hart, a specialist for this particular issue, for emergency surgery. They rushed Juan into a room to get the surgery process started and we were met with an amazing team of doctors, nurses and anesthesiologists who were, with God’s help, Juan’s life net. Juan was cut open from his diaphragm to pelvis with such a large incision to clean out all the damage done. The surgery also resulted in an intestinal diversion and a colostomy that they mentioned hoped to be reversed in about a year. During his first week of hospital stay (and we thought it would only be just one week), his white blood cell count was not lowering and additional complications were found. A second emergency surgery was rushed with the head surgeon, Dr. Roberts, on 1/12 and Juan came out of the surgery with an OPEN wound and spent over 24 hours in the ICU. The surgeon stated this was simply a precaution and that a third surgery scheduled for Sunday morning (1/14) would be necessary to ensure no further complications. The third surgery resulted in a semi open wound (muscle sutured only), with a wound vacuum, that he would have to use until the wound scared in and healed. After an additional week of monitoring, we finally saw improvements in his vitals and he was able to start eating a liquid diet and eventually solid food. On Saturday 1/20 Juan was finally released to go home! We have had multiple complications with home health care that have cause continuous stress and lack of rest which hinder Juan’s ability to heal and recover. It has continued to be a rocky road but he is slowly improving and becoming self-sufficient.

Thankfully Juan is on my insurance but the high deductible and loss of income are our main concerns at this time. (No PTO option since Juan is currently working a contract position.)

Unfortunately we were not prepared for this emergency due to trials that hit us over the past few years after covid hit. Some of you might be aware that Juan and I struggled after both being laid off within a few months of each other during covid. We ended up needing to utilize our savings that we were hoping to use for a home and future family plans due to the fact that finding any employment, let alone full time, was a struggle. Our plans were put on hold as we no longer had any savings set aside and we have been trying our best to get our feet back under us over the past few years. Recently we were finally pulling ourselves out of those trials as we were hit with this new one. Unfortunately we cannot endure or afford another round of financial stress.

Any funds remaining after this ordeal is managed will be paid forward to other people in need.

Please accept our heartfelt gratitude.