Help With Sam's Lifesaving Pediatric Surgeries

Story

Sam had two emergency surgeries over the holidays, one on Christmas morning and the second on New Year's Day. Thankfully, he is now home recovering. Please give if you can, and please share this on your social networks. Thank you. ----- This was already a rough year for our family. Eric had a 12th intestinal surgery in April for Crohn’s and Colitis and missed over a month of work. Kate had just recovered from a severe tooth infection that led to multiple dentist visits, oral surgery appointments, and a brief hospitalization. That took up much of our December. As Kate, Sam, and Arwen travelled to PA to visit Kate’s family, Sam got severely ill. Not long after they arrived, he had to be rushed to the ER. “Sam needs emergency abdominal surgery,” the doctor said. “His intestines are blocked. We need to operate quickly because this is a life-threatening condition.” “Am I going to die?” Sam asked the nurses as they prepped him for surgery. This was the first episode. Sam was a champ and recovered well and seemed strong. After nearly a week in the hospital he returned home to NH, only to experience more pain and symptoms indicative of an intestinal obstruction. Complying with the discharge instructions, we brought Sam to our local ER for evaluation. “Sam needs emergency abdominal surgery,” we heard again. “His intestines are blocked. It looks to be around the same area as his previous obstruction. We’ll prep him for surgery and obtain the files from the last procedure.” Just the worst deja vu. Sam was transported to Elliot Hospital pediatric specialists for his second operation. This one was more substantial because he hadn’t recovered, yet, from the Christmas Day surgery. Thankfully Sam is young and strong, and the surgery was successful. After another week in the hospital Sam finally came home on January 7th to stay (fingers crossed.) He’s starting a long recovery with daily physical therapy needs, a special diet, and several upcoming appointments. We still don’t know what the underlying cause of these obstructions are, so we need to work with specialists to run more tests and determine the root cause. We are so grateful to Sam’s surgeons, the nurses, and the staff of St. Luke’s Hospital and The Elliot Hospital for saving Sam’s life. All of this is very expensive. We have good insurance but there’s a high deductible, plus numerous associated costs that aren’t borne by insurance. Missed work for both Kate and Eric. Meals. Transportation. Specialist fees. It goes on and on. ----- Now, we need your help. We have a number of immediate medical bills and long-term recovery costs that we can’t cover alone. Please give if you can, and please share this on your social networks. Thank you. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and God bless you and your family.