I am Sheila Rickel. I feel kind of embarrassed to be doing this but we really need the help.

This all started back in January after the holidays I took an antibiotic and had a reaction. Suddenly my feet became very tight and it also made my heart race and skip beats palpitations all night long and I dropped a shiatsu massager on my foot. I had a sore well it looked like a blood blister which I did before and it came right off after it healed up.Well this wasn't healing and plus my feet were really super tight like vice grips wrapped around them squeezing them to death. I stopped taking the med and after 5 days my feet felt normal again. However my toe was dark purple with red around it and didn't look right so I went to the hospital. Side note I have drop foot in both feet ,a reaction from another med about 7-8 years ago. Anyway at the hospital it turned out that I had a blood clot in my leg so they did this procedure called lytics and you have to lay flat while they go in through your groin and down your leg with a clot busting medication. Well it wasn't working. They did this 3 days in a row in which they give you contrast dye in order to do it and it shut down my kidneys. I never had a problem with my kidneys previously I had to have dialysis while I was there and they're still not completely right.

This all started with just my second toe and then I spent about 11 days there and then I was so traumatized and exhausted from the experience of everything I went through . They told me they were going to have to amputate my leg under the knee which I did not agree with. I went home for a night before going down to Mayo for a second opinion.

At first they told me the same thing and I even had a hospitalist come and talk to me everyday and this was for a couple days before he came and said, we have you set up for an appointment tomorrow to amputate your leg. I said no you don't because number one nobody talk to me about it and number two you don't just come in here and tell me I'm getting my leg amputated tomorrow. So he proceeded to try and scare the crap out of me and told me that the dry gangrene I had contracted was going to get infected and spread into my blood and give me sepsis and kill me so it's either take my leg or die and I said I'm not doing surgery tomorrow on my leg. 2 Days later I had a very very nice confident and god-fearing doctor vascular surgeon come in and talk to me and he said that he could revascularize my leg and save most of my foot. So he did given the fact that I have terrible reactions to medications I've been having a very rough time since the surgery something is severely off balance my feet are constantly having sharp stabbing pains in them and tightness.

It's been absolutely misery. I am very thankful to have my leg but something needs to be done about what's going on with my feet and I knew my foot would get worse from it and it did. I had an orthopedic surgeon come in and talk to me about amputation but they wanted to wait about a month or so to see how much my foot recovers from the new blood flow. So after 17 days they sent me to rehab which was another nightmare. Originally I have been telling them that I am gaining water weight at the hospital I told them this and they didn't want to give me anything because my kidneys had been shut down previously. They kept saying it's normal to swell after a surgery like this and I kept insisting that it wasn't just swelling it was a lot of water weight. I ended up with congestive heart failure after my surgery. Anyway I got transferred to the rehab place and I told them I need lasix because I'm filling up with water and they said the doctor would get me some lasix. They came back the next day and said he is not going to do lasix he's just going to up the dosage of one of my pills which was not going to get rid of this water I was very uncomfortable at rehab I was able to put on my own clothes except I wasn't able. I had gained so much waterway I couldn't even get my clothes on at all my pants wouldn't even go over my butt my shirt that's normally loose and hanging on me was tighter on me.

So I ended up going to another hospital in the cities and they put me on lasix I was there for 5 days removed 22 lb of water weight.

They released me the day we had the snow storm here March 5th and I was devastated number one I have to wear a shoe they call a Darko on my foot and it's excruciating to step on my foot and they decided I was well enough to leave during a snowstorm. I asked them if I could wait until the next day when things are more cleared up and they said no.

Anyway after three different hospitals I went home and have been trying to recuperate here which is much better for me anyways because I like being around my family.

I feel like I'm being tortured I am very thankful that I have my leg but I have a lot more to deal with I have to have amputation of my toes and right under my toes plus I have to have surgery on my Achilles because it's too short and tight they said.

Well that is pretty much what I have been describing that my feet have been getting so tight and it is a reaction from meds.

So with the upcoming procedures and everything that I've been through already I am stressing out about the medical bills like my deductibles and my co-pays ,gas running back and forth and I'm just asking and praying for some help to pay those. One less worry over my head Ifanyone can or wants to or feels the need in their hearts to help me out I would really appreciate it. Like I said I'm really embarrassed to do this but I have those bills hanging over my head. My husband God bless him he has his own health problems and he's been going to work every day he goes to the store comes home he cooks he cleans the kitchen up and then he does all the cleaning and has to do all of the laundry and everything himself plus help me and I feel really bad about it.

I would like to take some of the burden off his back as well and the only way I can do that is with the help of others. Thank you so much for your help and if it's just prayers I appreciate that very much as well. I have total faith and know that the Lord has been with me every step of the way. Thanks again.

Updates ... I have to go on April 29th for amputation surgery and then on May 1st I also have to surgery on my Achilles tendon because it is too short and tight. I will be in the hospital for at least a week of ask goes well. Also the picture I uploaded previously I figured out if 3 weeks ago so I have posted one I took today when my nurse came and cleaned up my foot. I think it looks better.