GERARD'S RECOVERY FUND
Donation protected
Hello! My name is Gerard Martin. I am a 54 year old U.S. Army Veteran, personal trainer and self-defense instructor. I have a beautiful wife, Julie and our 5 year old son, Kian. Back on December 29th, 2014, I was walking to my car and I slipped and fell on the ice. After several trips to the doctor and after review of my MRI, the surgeon basically said, "you need surgery, ASAP!". You see, when I fell, I had bruised my spinal chord. I knew something was very wrong, when I started to have symptoms of numbness, tingling, loss of feeling, etc. Those symptoms began getting worse by the day. The doctor basically said, the longer you wait, the more permanent damage you will have so we need to get this done immediately!
One week later, January 29th, I had a laminectomy, decompression and fusion of C3-C5. The surgery went well, doctor said it couldn't have gone any better. Stayed in the hospital 4 days or so and then went home to recover from this surgery, I thought I would only miss a few weeks of work or so I thought...........
About a week later, I got up to use the bathroom and before I got back to the bed, I blanked out and couldn't get up. Luckily there was a chair near me so, I didn't hit the floor. I sat for a few moments wondering why I couldn't function. Sitting there pale, weak, and sweat rolling from my temples, I faintly called to my wife, Julie. Somehow she heard me and rushed up the stairs to find me not doing so well.
We tried to wait a few minutes to see if I would feel better, but nothing changed, so Julie helped me back into bed. To make a long story short, my condition did not improve, in fact, she said I looked and sounded worse, so she called 911. When firemen and paramedics arrived, my vital signs were so low, they had to rush me to the hospital.
As it turns out, God has more for me to do on this earth!! He saved my life that day by allowing those involved to get me to the hospital in time. It turns out, I had the most deadly of all bloodclots, I had a "Saddle Embolism". This is the type of embolism where mere minutes can be the difference between life and death. Thank God those doctors knew exactly what they needed to do! I had a rough time spending the next several days in the ICU. After all was said and done, I spent another week in the hospital because of the Embolism.
I am posting this because I wasn't sure where else to turn. The tough thing about my job is that I only draw income when I am working. I was not planning on the additional time off of work and the hardship of recovery. I truly hate and am bothered by having to ask for help. However, being self-employed and the main bread winner for our family right now, we are having difficulty making ends meet while I recover from not only the surgery, but the additional setback from the embolism.
Thank you so very much for reading this and if you feel moved in any way to help me in my situation, my family and I would truly appreciate your generosity. At this point, anything would help in a big way. God bless you.
Please share if you would. Thank you so very much!
About a week later, I got up to use the bathroom and before I got back to the bed, I blanked out and couldn't get up. Luckily there was a chair near me so, I didn't hit the floor. I sat for a few moments wondering why I couldn't function. Sitting there pale, weak, and sweat rolling from my temples, I faintly called to my wife, Julie. Somehow she heard me and rushed up the stairs to find me not doing so well.
We tried to wait a few minutes to see if I would feel better, but nothing changed, so Julie helped me back into bed. To make a long story short, my condition did not improve, in fact, she said I looked and sounded worse, so she called 911. When firemen and paramedics arrived, my vital signs were so low, they had to rush me to the hospital.
As it turns out, God has more for me to do on this earth!! He saved my life that day by allowing those involved to get me to the hospital in time. It turns out, I had the most deadly of all bloodclots, I had a "Saddle Embolism". This is the type of embolism where mere minutes can be the difference between life and death. Thank God those doctors knew exactly what they needed to do! I had a rough time spending the next several days in the ICU. After all was said and done, I spent another week in the hospital because of the Embolism.
I am posting this because I wasn't sure where else to turn. The tough thing about my job is that I only draw income when I am working. I was not planning on the additional time off of work and the hardship of recovery. I truly hate and am bothered by having to ask for help. However, being self-employed and the main bread winner for our family right now, we are having difficulty making ends meet while I recover from not only the surgery, but the additional setback from the embolism.
Thank you so very much for reading this and if you feel moved in any way to help me in my situation, my family and I would truly appreciate your generosity. At this point, anything would help in a big way. God bless you.
Please share if you would. Thank you so very much!
Organizer
Gerard Martin
Organizer
Denver, CO