Deedee's Fight vs Gastroparesis

Where to begin, I think I will begin with last week and go backwards. The picture you see of Deedee is March 14, 2015 celebrating her daughter's 20th birthday. She doesn't "really" look too "sick" here but it took all of the energy she could gather to come and celebrate that day. While we all laughed and ate the huge feast that had been prepared she quietly sat (as she usually does) and did not eat. She held little Connor and played with him all the while everyone around her was eatting and she could not. A few hours later, we were eatting an orange jello desert that my sister made and we encouraged Deedee to try some - it was ONLY JELLO. Well, very quickly she was nauseaous, in pain and had to leave the celebration to go home. Yes, because of a bite or two (very small I might add of Jello).
Deedee has Gastroparesis, don't worry if you do not know alot about it or have never heard of it because honestly neither have the doctors, hospitals and other medical professionals we have encountered over the last 8 years.  Gastroparesis is the paralysis of your stomach, basically, your stomach stops working and when you eat the food it sits in your stomach and rots because your stomach cannot digest it to empty its contents. This causes intense nausea, vomitting and excruitiating pain. This cycle continues until her system decides it is okay to let up. Water can also cause this cycle to begin.
In 2007, she had her gallbladder removed due to intense pain, immediately after the surgery the pain continued, after several visits to the ER and hospital it was found that she had a "stone" in her bile duct which was not common, but that was the "reason" for the pain,  so an ERCP was scheduled to remove it. Memorial Day weekend 2007, the stone removal was scheduled, we went to the hospital for the procedure, her doctor was "not" available but they sent a "colleague" to perform the routine procedure. It did not go well, the doctor came out with horror on his face, he had "torn" her bile duct while trying to remove the stone which was larger than he expected. She would now be admitted to the hospital and her stomach would have a drain tube put in it, and things are literally touch and go.  After 7 days she is released from the hospital and she never gets any better, but the tubes were removed and she can go home.
From May 2007 to current date she has gone to the Mayo Clinic, has had 6 different Gastroenterologists, countless ER visits, countless Hospital stays, lost 2 jobs, missed out on 8 years of just regular day to day life that we all take for granted.  She has had 19 ERCP's, 7 stints, 3 Botox injection treatments and has taken all of the medically approved and NOT medically approved drugs for treatment of Gastroparesis.
She wasn't even "Diagnosed" with Gastroparesis until 2013, when her 6th Gastroenterologist asked us if she had ever had a Gastric Emptying Study, hmmm,"No" we said, we had never heard of that, she had had everything else multiple times and even the Mayo Clinic didn't perform that test. The Gastric Emptying Test was ordered, performed and it was confirmed you have Gastroparesis, stupid us, we were somewhat relieved to have a diagnosis, previous doctors had accused her of drinking, she has to go to a Pain Management doctor because of the level of pain medication she is continually on and some doctors have indicated it is in her "head", so yes we foolishly thought wow we have a diagnosis. Then he tells us there is "NOTHING" that can really be done for this condition, and there isn't alot known about it either.  Best scenario, learn to manage it and see how it goes. Wow, that was disheartening....but it was truthful. From that point on as she progressively becomes more and more ill, the doctor continued trying the stints, he then tried the botox injections, the first one worked ok, the second and third were declining failures, then the not FDA Approved medication, Domperidone (which you have to get from a Specialty Pharmacy, your insurance doesn't cover it and it takes longer than usual to get it. - Sometimes you have to go out of the US to get it). The medication worked for a very short period of time but not for long and we are still in and out of the ER's and Hospitals with the stay ranging from 1-5 days depending on how severe her pain was, how severe her dehydration was when we brought her in "that time". The ER's and Hospitals have no Protocol to deal with this type of Chronic pain and suffering, nor do they even understand it.
So this brings us back to the "now", Deedee had found out that the Gastric Sleeve has been used on some patients with Gastroparesis and has been successful. She found a bariatric facility here in Las Vegas that has performed the surgery on gastropareseis patients and he has had success over the past 2 years.  We talk to her GI doctor, Primary Care doctor and pain management doctors and they all feel like this could be a viable option. So we start with filling out the questionairre and the initial appointment. The Gastric Sleeve surgery has an 85% success rate with Gastroparesis patients and folks, those are the best odds we have heard in a very long time.  Twenty days later, after speaking with the insurance and "thinking" that they understood and would consider her case, and three denials, and a Peer to Peer (doctor to doctor) denial from her insurance company her surgery is DENIED. The insurance company has denied it because there is not enough research to back up the "findings" that the Gastric Sleeve is in fact a viable option. The insurance company does however say they will Approve the Removal of her ENTIRE stomach, so she can be dependent on feeding tubes for the rest of her life and she is 41 years old.  Not only are the feeding tubes a problem in themselves, infection, pain and other problems,  she CANNOT have her stomach removed, if that is done, they cannot get to her Bile Duct and since her Bile Duct is torn, they do have to be able to get to her Bile Duct.   So now the only option is to personally finance the surgery that she needs.
Deedee is a single mother of two, with her daughter in college, who does her best to work from home when she can, but she has recently been "locked" out of her online position because she has been too sick to even work from home, so that is job#2 lost. She is on a low fixed income because in 1995 her husband was killed in a Blackhawk Helicopter Crash while serving in the U.S. Army. So folks, life has not been easy for her, she never asks for anything.  Obviously, she isn't even asking for this, I am asking for her.
Stress and gastroparesis are her constant companions.
We will make certain that she has the surgery, but knowing her she will insist on paying it back, it would be great to show her that through the love and support of Family and Friends, she has been taken care of and there is no debt to worry about.
It is now time for her to get her life back and live a little, enjoy the day to day life of waking up every morning and maybe drinking a little bit of coffee.
If you can help, with any amount, it would be greatly appreciated, if you cannot, we understand that, but we do ask if you can or cannot help out,  could you please "Share" this "Go Fund Me" with your friends and relatives and ask if perhaps they can help Deedee?
Deedee is scheduled for surgery on March 26, 2015, we will provide updates on her progress.
Sincerest thanks from her family and friends.