Support Kathy's Journey to Full Recovery

Hello, family and friends!

Wow – what a crazy and scary two weeks it has been. On Monday, July 8th, Kathy had acid reflux and gastric bypass procedures. After a short standard stay in Sioux Falls, she headed home to finish her recovery on Tuesday, July 9th. That evening, she started to experience significant weakness – which led to the PACH ambulance picking her up in the morning and a life flight trip to Sioux Falls. A big thanks for the staff at PACH and Avera for their care and attention – as this saved Kathy’s life.

Kathy arrived at Sioux Falls very sick, unfortunately she experienced a blood clot that caused her old stomach to burst which resulted in sepsis. Kathy had a second surgery to remove the old stomach and headed to the ICU for care and recovery. A few days later, to help healing, her surgeons did another procedure to add a mesh around the stomach/intestine connection.

We took a couple steps forward, however on Friday, July 19th, another blood clot was discovered which required an additional procedure to remove the blood clot. She has also received several units of blood. Over the weekend, Kathy is heading in the right direction but continues her stay in an ICU unit.

We are so thankful for the care she is receiving and the support of family and friends. Kathy has been extremely sick and weak, so we are so happy to see her start to take steps forward in the healing process. It will be a long road to full recovery, and it would be fantastic to support Kathy, Ryan, Keyton and Brynlee with medical expenses, lost work and travel!