Support Renee Gauthier's Medical Recovery

As many of you know, my little sister Renee Gauthier had an unexpected hospitalization in early June, which included having her left kidney removed and a 29-day hospital stay. As her medical issues continue to stack up, so do the medical and household bills. Because of this, we decided to start a GoFundMe page on her behalf.

Renee has spent her entire adult life caring for others as a Registered Nurse. She’s cared for some of the sickest of the sick, cancer/chemotherapy patients, all types of infusion patients, hospice patients, and immunocompromised patients. She’s always put her patients' care before her own health. But the time has come when she must put herself first.

On Saturday, May 25, 2024, in a small intimate ceremony, Renee married the man of her dreams, now husband Corey Patin. Renee’s pain started days before her nuptials. In fact, she spent their entire honeymoon weekend in bed at the hotel. Their honeymoon time was very short-lived because 5 days after their wedding, Renee ended up in the ER for severe abdominal and back pain. And this was the beginning of her month-long hospital stay, 29 days to be exact.

Renee was born with a hereditary kidney disease called Polycystic Kidney Disease. The disease causes thousands of cysts of all sizes to develop inside, outside, in the lining of the organ(s). The disease also spreads to other organs. Which Renee’s has spread from both kidneys to her pancreas and liver. Her left kidney was 3 times the normal size and her right kidney was double the normal size. In fact, when her left kidney was removed, the surgeon said it was the size of a watermelon. It had been pushing on her left lung for so long that it made the base of the lung collapse.

She spent a week inpatient at Oschner University & Hospitals trying to get her severe pain controlled. But to no avail, the decision was made that she needed to be moved to Oschner Lafayette General in the event a left nephrectomy (kidney removal) was warranted. She was moved by ambulance to OLG, where they too tried getting her pain under control. When you got off the elevator, you could hear Renee screaming in pain. She was in excruciating pain for nearly 3 weeks. Thank God she doesn’t remember most of it.

An angiogram was done where a spot on the left kidney was found to be bleeding that they were able to stop and a huge hematoma was found. This did nothing to ease the pain. By the time the decision was made to remove the kidney, she was on a continuous very high dose of Dilaudid via a PCG pump, yet still barely touched her pain. By this time, her kidney was barely functioning along with the excruciating pain getting worse and worse. So on the 12th of June, surgery was performed and her left kidney was removed. The surgeon said it was the size of a watermelon.

Even after the surgery, Renee continued to have setbacks, multiple blood transfusions, pneumonia, atelectasis (collapsed lungs), severe nausea, etc… She remained in the hospital for the next 2 weeks, then would return home for another 2-3 months before she could return to work. Once home for a week she began having chest pain and had to return to the ER. She was admitted for 2 more days with the base of both lungs collapsed. She is now finally home and recovering well.

Now the battle begins with bills. With Renee out of work for 3 months the medical and monthly bills continue to build up. That is why we have decided to set up this GoFundMe, with the help of your gracious generosity we hope to help cover some of these nearly $300,000.00 in medical bills. Thank you in advance to everyone, your kindness is greatly appreciated.

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