Support Bryan's Recovery and Medical Care
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$885 raised of
14 donations
I'm raising funds for my Dad, Bryan AKA Pickles, After a terrifying setback in his fight against small cell lung cancer.
HIS STORY: On September 1st, Bryan had surgery to remove the middle lobe of his right lung, surgery took longer than expected but he made it through without complication. The following days he was in the cardiovascular unit recovering, things were going quite well for him. The surgeon thought he was doing great and it was time to start preparing to be discharged home; his chest tube was removed and he was being closely monitored. To be sure his lung was staying inflated, an X-ray was done and it showed that his lung was collapsing a bit, so the surgeon placed a new chest tube, that one didn’t set properly, so it was removed & another chest tube was placed. By the next morning he had started to swell in his chest, by afternoon his face, then quickly within a couple of hours he had doubled in size, he said he felt like he was being strangled, they called a code on him; at this time my mom called me to hurry to the hospital because she was scared; by time I got there he was back “resting” (with the help of medications). We watched him sleep for about a bit. He woke up, now tripled in size; his eye was swollen shut, his face almost unrecognizable, chest and neck so large he felt like he was being suffocated.
He was uttering help me, help me over and over again; his call button was pushed, nurses came and gave him some more medication; within minutes the respiratory therapist came about to do rounds, she immediately took control of the situation, called another code and intubated him. September 6th he spent the night & next days in the ICU sedated and on a ventilator. In those days he was taken back for a procedure, they went into his lungs to get out any gunk and look for the air leak, the air leak could not be found. He also started antibiotics for an infection he developed. He remains in the ICU with a large chest tube, but he has been taken off the ventilator.
This recovery is going to long and slow. I will continue to update about both his progress and his setbacks. But for the time being, Bryan needs your support/help. Bryan will not be able to work for the foreseeable future, they need help covering the ongoing expenses that do not stop while he recovers.
Donations will first go to paying his health insurance so he can continue getting the medical care that he needs, as well as the portion of medical bills the insurance doesn’t cover. The rest will be put towards household bills, and necessities. Tracy is not able to financially keep up on her own without Bryan’s contribution, going from a 2 income household to 1 income is already almost impossible in this world; to make it even harder, Tracy has been missing a lot of work to be by her husbands side as he fights this battle for his life.
I made this fundraiser because my dad is suffering physically and mentally, my mom is struggling watching him go through this. The last thing they need is more stress added to the plate, worrying how they’re going to keep the lights on. Dad needs to focus on his healing & hitting his goal of getting out of the hospital, not how his insurance is getting paid at the end of the month or if he’ll have a house to go home to at the end of this.
This entire ordeal is not ideal and was definitely not in the plans. This was a relatively “safe” surgery and the risk of complication was low, however if it wasn’t for bad luck, there wouldn’t be any luck at all. He’s ran into about every wrong turn he could take during this.
It has been brutal for not only Bryan, but all of us. It has been an emotional roller coaster. To watch him suffer through all of the complications, the body and facial swelling, his pain, his confusion, seeing him in the icu bed on a ventilator, it was all gut wrenching. Honestly watching that happen to him was the definition of traumatizing.
If you are able, please consider making a donation to help with these continuing costs over the weeks ahead. Every donation is so deeply appreciated, and sharing this fundraiser would mean so much to our family. Thank you for supporting Bryan as he focuses on healing! Hopefully soon, he will be back to the Pickles everyone knows and loves!
God speed
HIS STORY: On September 1st, Bryan had surgery to remove the middle lobe of his right lung, surgery took longer than expected but he made it through without complication. The following days he was in the cardiovascular unit recovering, things were going quite well for him. The surgeon thought he was doing great and it was time to start preparing to be discharged home; his chest tube was removed and he was being closely monitored. To be sure his lung was staying inflated, an X-ray was done and it showed that his lung was collapsing a bit, so the surgeon placed a new chest tube, that one didn’t set properly, so it was removed & another chest tube was placed. By the next morning he had started to swell in his chest, by afternoon his face, then quickly within a couple of hours he had doubled in size, he said he felt like he was being strangled, they called a code on him; at this time my mom called me to hurry to the hospital because she was scared; by time I got there he was back “resting” (with the help of medications). We watched him sleep for about a bit. He woke up, now tripled in size; his eye was swollen shut, his face almost unrecognizable, chest and neck so large he felt like he was being suffocated.
He was uttering help me, help me over and over again; his call button was pushed, nurses came and gave him some more medication; within minutes the respiratory therapist came about to do rounds, she immediately took control of the situation, called another code and intubated him. September 6th he spent the night & next days in the ICU sedated and on a ventilator. In those days he was taken back for a procedure, they went into his lungs to get out any gunk and look for the air leak, the air leak could not be found. He also started antibiotics for an infection he developed. He remains in the ICU with a large chest tube, but he has been taken off the ventilator.
This recovery is going to long and slow. I will continue to update about both his progress and his setbacks. But for the time being, Bryan needs your support/help. Bryan will not be able to work for the foreseeable future, they need help covering the ongoing expenses that do not stop while he recovers.
Donations will first go to paying his health insurance so he can continue getting the medical care that he needs, as well as the portion of medical bills the insurance doesn’t cover. The rest will be put towards household bills, and necessities. Tracy is not able to financially keep up on her own without Bryan’s contribution, going from a 2 income household to 1 income is already almost impossible in this world; to make it even harder, Tracy has been missing a lot of work to be by her husbands side as he fights this battle for his life.
I made this fundraiser because my dad is suffering physically and mentally, my mom is struggling watching him go through this. The last thing they need is more stress added to the plate, worrying how they’re going to keep the lights on. Dad needs to focus on his healing & hitting his goal of getting out of the hospital, not how his insurance is getting paid at the end of the month or if he’ll have a house to go home to at the end of this.
This entire ordeal is not ideal and was definitely not in the plans. This was a relatively “safe” surgery and the risk of complication was low, however if it wasn’t for bad luck, there wouldn’t be any luck at all. He’s ran into about every wrong turn he could take during this.
It has been brutal for not only Bryan, but all of us. It has been an emotional roller coaster. To watch him suffer through all of the complications, the body and facial swelling, his pain, his confusion, seeing him in the icu bed on a ventilator, it was all gut wrenching. Honestly watching that happen to him was the definition of traumatizing.
If you are able, please consider making a donation to help with these continuing costs over the weeks ahead. Every donation is so deeply appreciated, and sharing this fundraiser would mean so much to our family. Thank you for supporting Bryan as he focuses on healing! Hopefully soon, he will be back to the Pickles everyone knows and loves!
God speed
Organizer and beneficiary
Tracy Meloccaro
Beneficiary