Support Linda Harrison's Road to Recovery

Hello, my name is Pam Pittman. I am the daughter of Linda Harrison, 79 years old.

On May 8th, my mom fell and broke her tibia and fibula. On May 9th, she had surgery to "fix" it. They put in screws and a plate. (Surgery #1) Mom was in excruciating pain. Less than 2 months later, the incision area was turning black and necrotic looking. They went back in to take the hardware out and scrape the necrotic tissue off the bone. (Surgery #2) Now, osteomyelitis in the bone. I.V. infusion therapy at home in between hospital stays. The osteomyelitis ate completely through her bone. Picture of the hole in the bone shown. The ankle was not healing and just getting worse. Surgery #3 was to clean out and remove some of the dead/rotted bone and put in spacers. We found out her foot was not even attached. Gangrene was trying to start on the very tips of her toes. Doctors found a problem in her groin area that was hindering blood flow. No one in Waycross, GA could fix it. She was then transported to Savannah Memorial with an excellent team of doctors. She had a blood clot, and they went in and fixed that. (Surgery #4) Gangrene had really taken hold of her foot. On September 3rd, they had no choice but to do a below-the-knee amputation. (Surgery #5) The infection, osteomyelitis, and gangrene were so severe, they said her body would never be able to rid the infection. Also, if she tried to keep the leg, she was facing 2 years of surgeries with no guarantee that they could save it, plus the risk of the infection getting into her organs and killing her. So the choice of amputation was the only safe choice.

My mom has always been a very strong and independent woman, always a fighter and didn't let anything beat her. But as she said earlier, this was about to whip her. I reminded her of who she was and that we would get through this. She has lost approx. 50 lbs since this began..She still has a long, hard road ahead of her: rehabs, therapy, learning to walk on a prosthetic which will come later after healing.

The hospitals don't offer vouchers for families anymore that need to stay at hotels. The first week, we stayed 2 nights; the second week, 3 nights. We will be traveling back and forth from Waycross to Savannah many more times. The hotels, gas, and medical bills... You would not believe the medical bills! Six hospital stays since May, many ER visits, trips by ambulance, I.V. infusion therapy, and the list keeps getting more and more. She will have her 20% that she will have to pay, and then of course, her co-pays to any doctor she sees in the office.

Please keep my mom in your prayers and all of us as well. Thank you for any help... God bless.