The Durham Family Campaign

In 2017 things started to get difficult for the Durham family when their eldest child, Alexia, was diagnosed with Epilepsy at the age of 21. Her mother, Aziza, quit working during this time so she could take care of Alexia, as she needed assistance with everything in her day-to-day life. Alexia’s illness progressed and later that December she was diagnosed with cancer, a NeuroEndocrine Tumor (NET). Alexia was hospitalized 7 times from 2017-2018, 4 times in 2019 and had to have multiple procedures and 3 surgeries in the last 2 years. 

During this time, Aziza was also trying to keep her Crohn’s at bay. Aziza stayed in a constant Crohn’s flair while caring for her daughter. Over the past 2 years she has jumped from one Crohn’s med to another with no luck or relief from the debilitating symptoms that come with this disease. Aziza has been hospitalized for this illness twice in the past year, with her most recent stay being 9 weeks. During this time, she lost her job (while sedated in ICU during the first 3 weeks!) due to her hospitalization and an unforeseeable discharge date. 

Once she was admitted it was discovered that she had a bowel obstruction, causing her to have surgery. It was then that they found she also had a ventral hernia and numerous adhesions. The removal of all the adhesions led to numerous complications; i.e. a bowel leak, septic shock, near death & emergency surgery to correct the perforated bowel by resecting the damaged portion. Aziza didn’t heal correctly from this surgery and she developed a fistula. After that surgery she ended up with 2 abscesses and multiple blood clots in her left lung. Luckily, she is now home but she does still have an open wound, a JP drain and is on IV TPN. 

A wound care nurse must come to her house every day to change her dressing and check on her surgical wound. Aziza also visits a wound care doc once a week along with her GI and surgeon every 2 weeks. A hematologist is also required to manage the blood clots. She most likely won’t be able to return to work for over a year and will most likely need another surgery in the next 3 months.

A few months before Aziza was hospitalized, her husband Steven unfortunately lost his job due to a lay off. Due to these circumstances that are completely out of their hands, they are paying an outrageous amount each month for COBRA health insurance and now she and her family are behind on rent, day-to-day bills and piled up medical bills. Their youngest child, Aizlyn, is starting high school this Fall. Any help that you could bring yourself to donate to this family is greatly appreciated. Your support is beyond measure and every bit helps them to get caught up on medical expenses and especially rent. The Durham Family thanks you!