Mike's Struggle

Mike Boryczka has worked at Jack Phelan Chevrolet as a car salesman for seven years.  He is an honest, hardworking, and generous man who has no trouble getting along with anyone.  He is the sole provider for his wife Halina and seven year old daughter Olivia. 

On August 17th 44 year old Mike complained of stomach pains at work.  Throughout the day the pains grew worse and he began vomiting uncontrollably.  An ambulance was called and Mike was rushed to MacNeal hospital in Berwyn, Illinois.

Mike had been battling alcohol addiction for several years.  His struggle with the disease eventually led to damage in his liver and irreparable damage to his pancreas.  Doctors informed Mike’s family that over seventy-five percent of his pancreas had died making Mike a diabetic and forcing him to be on insulin for the rest of his life.

Although Mike’s lifestyle played a role in him ending up in the hospital, things took a turn for the worse from there.  While in intensive care at MacNeal, Mike contracted pneumonia leading to fluid in his lungs and a collapsed lung.  He currently has a breathing tube inserted in his throat and can no longer eat on his own or speak.  A feeding tube was inserted into his stomach to give him the nutrients he needs. 

Although his family is hopeful that Mike will make a speedy recovery, the post-hospital transition will be a difficult one.  When he is released from the hospital he will spend several months in an assisted rehabilitative living center, learning how to readjust to his daily life.  This adjustment will take a toll on his wife and daughter who will have a limited source of income during Mike’s absence from work. 

The support that Halina and Olivia have received from family and friends has been outstanding and the continued support of all of the people who knew Mike can really help his family push through these trying times.