Support for the Barczi Family

On February 4th, the most unexpected life-changing event happened to the Barzci family.

Chad and Jessica were lying in bed laughing at Gabby on the baby monitor. She figured out how to climb out of her crib and was planning her escape, but the doorknob puzzled her. After watching her silly antics for a little, Jessica decided to get out of bed and help her out. When she returned to the bedroom, Chad was acting weird. A few minutes later, she realized he was having a stroke and called 911.

The EMS took Chad to McLaren Port Huron, and he was diagnosed with a massive cryptogenic stroke (when an artery to your brain becomes blocked, usually by a blood clot). It appears that stroke was followed by a hemorrhagic stroke (when blood from an artery suddenly begins bleeding into the brain). His condition was too severe for their hospital, so he was transferred to McLaren Mt. Clemens. A procedure was immediately performed where they placed a catheter to open an artery. At this point and time, he had no feeling on his left side.

Because the swelling on his brain was still present the following day, a craniotomy was performed where they removed a portion of his skull to relieve the pressure.

For the next several days, he fought hard and took baby steps in the right direction. Finally, the ventilator was removed on February 11th, and he was transferred out of the ICU. Chad still did not have any feeling in his left arm, but he was starting to wiggle his left toes and lift his left foot. He could not swallow; therefore, a feeding tube was placed.

Unfortunately, on Thursday, February 17th, Jessica noticed that his mental state had declined a little and that his breathing was labored. On February 19th, they performed an x-ray, and he was diagnosed with the beginning stages of pneumonia. It was also discovered around this time that he had a sepsis infection (the presence of harmful microorganisms in the blood or other tissues). Chad was transferred back to the ICU and was placed back on the ventilator.

On February 21st, Jessica was informed that Chad’s kidneys were only working at 11%. Therefore, the doctors placed him on dialysis once a day. They hope that it will only be for a short period until the infection is gone and the kidneys can function entirely on their own again.

A tracheostomy tube will be placed on Monday, which will deliver oxygen more efficiently to his lungs. Once they know that he is stable, the plan is to transfer him to a long-term acute hospital to continue his recovery.

Once Chad gets over these hurdles (and he will), he will be staring down a very long road to his recovery. He will need to re-learn everything that we take for granted. How to swallow, speak and walk, for starters. There is no definite timeline for stroke recovery patients- it can take months or years to recover fully.

This GoFundMe page is to help with their household expenses. I want to make sure that Jessica, Chad Jr., Timothy and Gabriella do not have to worry about their house payment, food and utilities for the next few months. Instead, their main focus should be on her husband and their dad coming back home to them healthy.

We are grateful for whatever donation that you may be able to give. If you cannot donate, that’s ok; your love, well wishes and prayers mean the world to them. Please keep them coming!