For Joy

Hi everyone. My name is Alan, and I'm fundraising for my wife, Joy.

SO WHAT'S GOING ON?

Joy was admitted to the local ER with diabetic ketoacidosis and a case of pneumonia. You know how your muscles hurt the next day after a really intense workout? Well that's what it was like, but all over. Her blood glucose was so high that it starved her cells of sugar. Not having anything else to use for fuel, her body lapsed into a type of starvation mode known as ketosis - and lactic acid started building up everywhere. She spent days in the ER before finally being moved to a regular room. Three days later, she was allowed to come home. They set her up with an oxygen machine and a few bottles to lug around if she went anywhere. She was expected to make a quick recovery.

That didn't happen.

She was constantly weak and out of breath. The new insulin they prescribed her was all too effective, and it resulted in two blood sugar crashes in as many weeks, both requiring an ambulance ride back to the ER. Joy had to sleep sitting up on the couch, buoyed by pillows and blankets, and she ran a low-grade fever hovering around 101 °F the whole time. She also complained of impaired vision. A trip to the optometrist didn't accomplish much - we were told that her high blood sugar had caused the lens in her eye to change shape, and it would work itself out soon. That didn't happen either.

A few days ago at about 2 AM, I came in to check on Joy and see if she needed anything and give her medication and whatnot. She wasn't well at all. She was completely spaced out, drenched in sweat, and her voice was a raspy wheeze. I managed to get her on her feet and into the car, and back to the ER we went. She was, of course, admitted immediately and they began a battery of tests. I had to return home to make sure our boys were able to get to school the next day and grab a few hours of sleep. I fully anticipated coming back to sit with her once everyone was at school.

I got a call at 6 AM from the head nurse telling me that Joy was being taken to Little Rock. Her blood sugar was good, but nothing else was. A chest x-ray showed she had fluid built up in the sac around her heart. A few more tests revealed that she was in a condition known as sepsis - basically an all-over infection. They weren't equipped at the local ER to handle all this, and the decision was made to send her off to a larger hospital with better equipment and resources.

En route, Joy's blood pressure dropped alarmingly and they diverted her to St Bernard's hospital in Jonesboro, AR. They drained a liter of infected fluid from her heart sac, and said she had a staph infection in her blood, along with everywhere else. We still have no idea where this infection came from. She's currently in the ICU there, with a note on her door informing the staff that she's "Blind/Vision-Impaired" in ballpoint on copy paper. Whatever works I guess. Her nurse told me that she has a fungal infection (!) in one of the valves of her heart, and it's going to require a valve replacement. They're sending her to St. Louis as soon as a bed in their ICU opens up. If this is not done, she runs the very real possibility of a fatal pulmonary embolism or a stroke.

That's where we are now.

HOW SOON DO WE NEED THE FUNDS?

As soon as we can get them. The company she works for approved her FMLA. Joy has a good paying job, but it pays less well when you can't be there. I stay home with our two boys and attempt to manage finances and generally keep the house running. We've gone through almost all of our savings. I'm terrified of the medical bills to come. I have no idea what the total is going to look like, but I expect it to be in the tens of thousands of dollars. Bankruptcy is a serious possibility.

HOW WILL THE MONEY BE USED?

In the immediate term, the money will be used to keep the lights on and keep food on the table. In the long term, it will be used to offset (and hopefully eliminate) crippling bills from three different hospitals in two states.

I'm on my last legs. I've tapped every resource I've got and it wasn't enough. If you can help at all, it would mean a lot more than I know how to say.

Thanks for listening to our story. Rough times ahead, I think.

--Alan