Veterinarian Dr. Darwin Kohler's Life Saving Fund

Darwin is an extremely loved life partner, father, stepfather, and step grandfather. He has dedicated the last 38 years to Veterinary Medicine. The man whose generosity has done so much for so many is now in the greatest fight of his life.

Our life changed on December 30th, 2022, when Darwin was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer. As scary as this sounds, the doctors aggressively attacked it with surgery that removed a large portion of the colon along with chemotherapy. This was successful and the cancer was removed. It left him with an ostomy bag for 8 months.

In August, Darwin was deemed healthy enough for reconnection surgery. This was scheduled for August 17th, this was supposed to be a great and happy time, to beat the cancer and now lose the bag. After 5 days in the hospital on the day he was supposed to be released, they found that he was in A-fib. A-fib can be caused by a traumatic event such as surgery. It can also be caused by a leak from the colon.

The surgeon decided to keep Darwin in the hospital for an extra day to monitor the A-fib. On August 22nd he was released to go home.

On August 25th at 3:00 am, symptoms of abdominal pain began to appear. At 4:00 am he was rushed to the ER. By the time they got him to a room, he was in septic shock, putting him in critical condition. The race was on to save his life. His colon was leaking into his abdomen.

Darwin had emergency surgery to stop the leak in the abdomen causing the septic shock by undoing the previous reconnection surgery. They couldn’t continue the surgery due to the infection and dangerously low blood pressure. After 2 days in the ICU intubated and sedated, they were able to perform the 2nd surgery replacing the ostomy and closing the wound.

Darwin has now been in the ICU for 11 days. He has suffered numerous setbacks including a collapsed lung and needing 3 drain tubes placed for excess fluid.

He will remain in the ICU until being moved to a room on the general surgical floor, followed by weeks in rehabilitation.

Anything you can give is greatly appreciated by Darwin’s family and friends. 100% of the funds will go towards his medical bills and recovery.

Please share, pray, and if you have the ability to donate, please do. Any amount helps!

Our Love and Appreciation,

Darwin’s Family