Tia is passionate about her career as a Respiratory Therapist, where she has helped and cared for thousands of patients and families throughout the years. Unfortunately, she is now on the “other-side” of the bed, the one getting cared for. You will not only see her wearing her hospital attire but also repping red and black in support of the Whitworth Softball Program. Anyone who knows Tia knows her bubbly personality, infectious laugh, and her hundreds of softball Facebook posts of her daughter, Rylee, who is a senior student-athlete at Whitworth University.

This past year has been a whirlwind for Tia. On May 16th, 2021, she was admitted to the ICU at CHI St. Anthony Hospital, where she fought for life. She was severely septic with an infection in her large intestine. She was in the ICU for 5 days where the team of nurses and doctors tried everything they could to find some answers, including MRIs, biopsies, and many lab tests. On the 5th day, when she got moved to Med-Surg, we finally got the answers we needed. The doctor drew the conclusion that she had ischemic colitis, and the plan of care was a waiting game to see if her large intestine would heal on its own. After 5 days in the ICU and 3 days on Med-Surg, we could finally take her home to recover.

Once she was out of the hospital, we hoped her recovery would be smooth sailing. She had appointments once a month to track progress, but it was not looking promising. So, after her colonoscopy procedure in November 2021, the doctor made the decision that she was going to need surgery. On December 2nd, 2021, she endured a partial colectomy. The surgery lasted 5 hours and was deemed successful. The doctor took out ⅔ of the large intestine, which resulted in him rearranging what was left over to be reconnected to the sigmoid. She was in the hospital for another 6 days post-op.

The last 4 months of recovery have been a new adventure for her, to say the least, but she has been taking it like a champ. Although she was rushed to the emergency room on April 28th, 2022, at around 12:00 am, and at around 3:30 am, she went in for emergency surgery. The MRI scan found scar tissue and many blood vessels wrapped around her small intestine, causing a small bowel obstruction, along with a hernia on top of all those complications. She got out of surgery around 9:00 am on Friday and was admitted to the ICU once again.

She is still in the hospital trying to recover, and we are not sure how long she will be in there. We don’t know what the next couple of months will look like, but if this recovery is similar to the last two, she will need to be off work for a couple of months. Going through unexpected medical emergencies isn't the easiest thing to deal with financially, especially when you’re on a single-family income. This go fund me has been set up for friends, family, or anyone that would like to alleviate the financial stress that comes along with unexpected medical emergencies. All the proceeds will go towards her medical bills, utility bills, and mortgage. All we can ask for is for everyone to keep her in your thoughts and prayers that she gets home soon. Thank you in advance to everyone that is able and willing to donate to help this strong woman fight this battle.

I love you mom; you will come out stronger than ever!

Rylee