Right before Memorial Day, Jacob was experiencing shortness of breath and chest pain after working in the yard. After initially brushing off his pain as a pulled muscle, he went to the ER the next day, where the ER team realized that his lung had collapsed. They inserted a chest tube to give his lung room to inflate. After a few days, X-rays showed that his lung had fully re-inflated and he was sent home.

Two days later, he felt the pain and pressure and couldn't breathe so he headed back to the hospital. Once again they had to insert a new chest tube and he was readmitted. Eventually they ordered a CT scan and it showed that there was much more going on than previously assumed. He had to wait a week to get transferred to consult with a specialist, who diagnosed him with a condition called “bleb disease,” where cyst-like pockets had formed on his lungs and had burst, leaving his lung vulnerable to collapse. The causes of this are mostly environmental, and his decade and a half of labor in the concrete and pest control industries contributed significantly to the damage in his lungs.

Jacob is home now after almost a month at two different hospitals, and is slowly recovering from this incredibly painful ordeal that will have to be repeated on his other lung to ensure that he is safe from any further lung collapse. But his time in the hospital has taken a toll, physically, emotionally, and financially. He will be unable to continue working at the pest control business that he recently had formed. We are all so happy that he is home and that he is recovering. However, he has no income and has to reconsider everything and retrain for a new, less dangerous career.

It’s always difficult to ask for help when you’re struggling, but I am creating this fundraiser in hopes that we can alleviate some of his financial stress, and make sure he can pay his bills so he can focus on his recovery. Every little bit helps, and from the bottom of all of our hearts we thank you for your contributions, however small.