- M
- D
Rob and I have never been comfortable reaching out to others and asking for help, but once you come face to face with death, priorities and perspective changes, and we realized that we don’t have to go through this alone. It truly does take a village and I also felt it was important to share my story. If anyone feels inclined to donate, we will be forever grateful, but first and foremost, I want to share my story of dying, and being given a second chance at life.
For those that don’t know, I’ll give a little background before getting to the present situation. I’ve had a multitude of health issues since my late teens. I’ve had 2 surgeries to remove ovarian cysts, surgery on both hips to correct a bony overgrowth and labral tears, 7 collapsed lungs, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) on both lungs which included removing sections of the lungs that were damaged from bleb disease (weak, blister-like pockets on lungs that pop at random causing a collapse). Additionally, each lung was intentionally damaged to create scar tissue between the lung and pulmonary cavity to “glue” the lung open and prevent another collapse. Due to nerve damage that occurred during that last lung surgery in 2017, I developed a chronic pain condition called intercostal neuralgia.
During the last two years, in an effort to reduce and control the pain, I’ve had 45 intercostal nerve blocks, 3 paravertebral blocks, a spinal cord stimulator trial, two peripheral nerve stimulators implanted for the max allowed 60 days, more than 100 trigger point injections and I’ve tried just about every medication out there that may reduce or control the pain. My only hope right now for improvement is a device called Bioness StimRouter. I’ve been waiting since June and the only thing coming between me and getting that device, is a contract between the hospital and the medical device company.
During this time, I developed cyclic vomiting syndrome, which was/is likely triggered by stress. I was hospitalized in the summer of 2018 during a very severe episode and had it mostly under control until the summer of 2019. Over the last few months, the episodes of vomiting have become more frequent and more severe.
On November 10th, 2019, after only a few bites of food and no warning signs or symptoms, I started vomiting and after my usual meds failed to stop the vomiting, I told Rob to call 911. I’ve never in my life needed emergency services but something in my gut (no pun intended) told me I needed immediate help. While at the ER, I was given several doses of anti-nausea medication as well as i.v. fluids but I continued to vomit, on average, about every 3-5 minutes and despite the i.v. fluids, became dangerously dehydrated. The first time I lost consciousness, I was on a gurney in the hallway and not hooked to cardiac monitors so they assumed I passed out. They quickly moved me to a room, hooked me up to cardiac monitors and during an ultrasound of my gallbladder, I went into sudden cardiac arrest. The last thing I remember was telling the technician that laying me flat wasn’t going to go well… I then awoke surrounded by doctors and nurses, hooked up to wires and defibrillator pads and so many i.v. lines. Due to my electrolytes being so low, every muscle in my body was in spasm. The amount of pain is indescribable and coming from someone who has had several chest tubes, that’s saying a lot.
I was clinically dead for about a minute. I was lucky. I was in the right place at the right time and they were able to act quickly to save my life without much damage, other than some short term memory loss. Unfortunately, I was still unable to keep anything down for several days and after a week without nutrition, I had a feeding tube put in. Finally, after 10 days in the hospital, I was able to eat and was discharged home.
This brings me to why we are here, sharing my story and reaching out for help. I can not go back to work anytime soon. I have a lot of doctors appts ahead of me and two surgeries. I need to follow-up with a cardiologist to find out if I need treatment for this newly found condition that contributed to the cardiac arrest (long QT Syndrome) and what my risk is of experiencing, as well as what we can do to prevent, another cardiac arrest. I need to follow-up with a MALS (median arcuate ligament syndrome) surgeon to determine if surgery to fix my compressed abdominal arteries will stop the vomiting episodes. This requires travel to Cleveland Clinic, Mayo in Rochester or anywhere else that has a surgeon willing to help me. I’ve lost 25lbs in a month from the vomiting and inability to eat enough calories. I had a feeding tube while in the hospital and will likely need one again when the next episode happens. Rob has also had to cut back at work to take me to my appts and he spent every night with me in the hospital for the 10 days I was there.
Between the MALS surgery, peripheral nerve stimulator surgery, recovery time and missed work, it is going to be a financial challenge to stay afloat in the next 6-12 months while I get the help I need and hopefully regain my health and ability to work. In the meantime, any help is greatly appreciated. We never imagined finding ourselves in this position (who does?!) but we are asking that if anyone feels inclined to help in any way, we greatly appreciate it.
For anyone wondering why we don’t have emergency savings… well, we did. In late October, the engine in Rob’s jeep cracked and had to be replaced and completely drained our savings. And as you can tell from the last few years, we’ve already had mountains of medical bills to deal with. This current situation has put us over the edge and we really need any help provided.
Thank you for coming to our page, reading my story and even if you aren’t in a position to donate, we’d be grateful if you can share the page.
Thank you all for the support!!
Katie and Rob Nunez
For those that don’t know, I’ll give a little background before getting to the present situation. I’ve had a multitude of health issues since my late teens. I’ve had 2 surgeries to remove ovarian cysts, surgery on both hips to correct a bony overgrowth and labral tears, 7 collapsed lungs, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) on both lungs which included removing sections of the lungs that were damaged from bleb disease (weak, blister-like pockets on lungs that pop at random causing a collapse). Additionally, each lung was intentionally damaged to create scar tissue between the lung and pulmonary cavity to “glue” the lung open and prevent another collapse. Due to nerve damage that occurred during that last lung surgery in 2017, I developed a chronic pain condition called intercostal neuralgia.
During the last two years, in an effort to reduce and control the pain, I’ve had 45 intercostal nerve blocks, 3 paravertebral blocks, a spinal cord stimulator trial, two peripheral nerve stimulators implanted for the max allowed 60 days, more than 100 trigger point injections and I’ve tried just about every medication out there that may reduce or control the pain. My only hope right now for improvement is a device called Bioness StimRouter. I’ve been waiting since June and the only thing coming between me and getting that device, is a contract between the hospital and the medical device company.
During this time, I developed cyclic vomiting syndrome, which was/is likely triggered by stress. I was hospitalized in the summer of 2018 during a very severe episode and had it mostly under control until the summer of 2019. Over the last few months, the episodes of vomiting have become more frequent and more severe.
On November 10th, 2019, after only a few bites of food and no warning signs or symptoms, I started vomiting and after my usual meds failed to stop the vomiting, I told Rob to call 911. I’ve never in my life needed emergency services but something in my gut (no pun intended) told me I needed immediate help. While at the ER, I was given several doses of anti-nausea medication as well as i.v. fluids but I continued to vomit, on average, about every 3-5 minutes and despite the i.v. fluids, became dangerously dehydrated. The first time I lost consciousness, I was on a gurney in the hallway and not hooked to cardiac monitors so they assumed I passed out. They quickly moved me to a room, hooked me up to cardiac monitors and during an ultrasound of my gallbladder, I went into sudden cardiac arrest. The last thing I remember was telling the technician that laying me flat wasn’t going to go well… I then awoke surrounded by doctors and nurses, hooked up to wires and defibrillator pads and so many i.v. lines. Due to my electrolytes being so low, every muscle in my body was in spasm. The amount of pain is indescribable and coming from someone who has had several chest tubes, that’s saying a lot.
I was clinically dead for about a minute. I was lucky. I was in the right place at the right time and they were able to act quickly to save my life without much damage, other than some short term memory loss. Unfortunately, I was still unable to keep anything down for several days and after a week without nutrition, I had a feeding tube put in. Finally, after 10 days in the hospital, I was able to eat and was discharged home.
This brings me to why we are here, sharing my story and reaching out for help. I can not go back to work anytime soon. I have a lot of doctors appts ahead of me and two surgeries. I need to follow-up with a cardiologist to find out if I need treatment for this newly found condition that contributed to the cardiac arrest (long QT Syndrome) and what my risk is of experiencing, as well as what we can do to prevent, another cardiac arrest. I need to follow-up with a MALS (median arcuate ligament syndrome) surgeon to determine if surgery to fix my compressed abdominal arteries will stop the vomiting episodes. This requires travel to Cleveland Clinic, Mayo in Rochester or anywhere else that has a surgeon willing to help me. I’ve lost 25lbs in a month from the vomiting and inability to eat enough calories. I had a feeding tube while in the hospital and will likely need one again when the next episode happens. Rob has also had to cut back at work to take me to my appts and he spent every night with me in the hospital for the 10 days I was there.
Between the MALS surgery, peripheral nerve stimulator surgery, recovery time and missed work, it is going to be a financial challenge to stay afloat in the next 6-12 months while I get the help I need and hopefully regain my health and ability to work. In the meantime, any help is greatly appreciated. We never imagined finding ourselves in this position (who does?!) but we are asking that if anyone feels inclined to help in any way, we greatly appreciate it.
For anyone wondering why we don’t have emergency savings… well, we did. In late October, the engine in Rob’s jeep cracked and had to be replaced and completely drained our savings. And as you can tell from the last few years, we’ve already had mountains of medical bills to deal with. This current situation has put us over the edge and we really need any help provided.
Thank you for coming to our page, reading my story and even if you aren’t in a position to donate, we’d be grateful if you can share the page.
Thank you all for the support!!
Katie and Rob Nunez