Fundraiser to Assist Frank Baldwin’s Medical
Donation protected
On June 4th, my Dad, Frank Baldwin was sent out to Anchorage. He had been suffering with severe pain for several weeks. The clinic in St. Paul diagnosed him with an abscess in his right buttock. On the flight into Anchorage, it burst. His grandson Brandon took him to Alaska Regional ER. They did a CT and they were not comfortable with handling it and referred him to the surgeon the next day, it was too deep. He underwent a day procedure and elected to do it without any anesthesia, only with a local. The surgeon had to create an incision that was 3 inches deep in order to access the abscess and extract it with a needle. I flew up from Arizona to help care for him, the wound needed to be packed daily and dad was very sick, he was unable to care for himself. By Monday, I noticed that the wound seemed to be okay but the area of the abscess seemed to be getting bigger. He also was still expelling out of his rectum a lot of yellow fluid that then turned to blood. Not just a little, a lot. As you may or may not know, he has a colostomy. Nothing should be coming out of his colon/rectum. I called the surgeon and they had him come in. The surgeon inspected him and said the blood was mixed with stool. An ultrasound showed a second abscess. Dad was convinced to do a local again, as this abscess was closer to the surface and would not require an incision. There was a lot of infected fluid drawn out. It was just as painful. Painful to watch. The surgeon doesn’t understand why he has stool and blood coming out of his colon/rectum and is concerned. Dad was to be referred to a colorectal surgeon.
On 6/11 I called to see if there was any word on an appointment. No word. I let the nurse know, Dad said he had flatulence last night. He hasn’t passed gas since the year 2010. The nurse said she would let the surgeon know.
This is not right. As you can probably sense as I write this, we are very worried. We have no idea what could be causing the abscesses, the draining of stool, blood and now flatulence out of his colon/rectum. It isn’t connected to his intestine…it shouldn’t be doing this. I was tired of waiting for the referral...I took matters into my own hands.
6/12: I was able to get a hold of a doctor at the Alaska Colorectal Surgery Center and they squeezed him in today due to the urgent nature of his issues/symptoms. They are admitting him today and doing surgery on 6/13. He will require another surgery in 6-8 weeks after this first one. He may need a third.
Dad only has Medicare and it does NOT pay for all his medical costs.
Dad has to worry about housing, medical supplies, medicine, antibiotics, pain medicine, food, transportation, ER bill, surgeon bill, colorectal appointments, two surgery’s maybe three and follow ups.
Wherever Dad is, one of us has to be with him. He cannot go home between surgeries. With him being deaf, not seeing well, weak, he really can’t be alone as you can understand. It’s all confusing and scary. At 78 years old, he doesn’t bounce like he used to. He is a fighter though.
Please consider helping him. He has been a very generous man to many people. Always willing to help. Always giving...his baked bread, fudge, smoked fish, helping fix things or doing something! Dad has always given to people, to the people of St. Paul Island - as if he was born and raised there. He does it because he is a giver, not because he wants a pat on the back. He has always called it his home.
He really is in need. I do hope that you can find it in your heart to give, even if it isn’t much, every bit adds up and helps.
We, Jama, Michael and myself, would like to thank you in advance. We don’t ask for help very often, but right now our Dad really needs it. Please share our plea. ❤️
~With sincere respect and appreciation,
Cindy Baldwin, Jama Shane and Michael Baldwin
Children of Frank V. Baldwin
On 6/11 I called to see if there was any word on an appointment. No word. I let the nurse know, Dad said he had flatulence last night. He hasn’t passed gas since the year 2010. The nurse said she would let the surgeon know.
This is not right. As you can probably sense as I write this, we are very worried. We have no idea what could be causing the abscesses, the draining of stool, blood and now flatulence out of his colon/rectum. It isn’t connected to his intestine…it shouldn’t be doing this. I was tired of waiting for the referral...I took matters into my own hands.
6/12: I was able to get a hold of a doctor at the Alaska Colorectal Surgery Center and they squeezed him in today due to the urgent nature of his issues/symptoms. They are admitting him today and doing surgery on 6/13. He will require another surgery in 6-8 weeks after this first one. He may need a third.
Dad only has Medicare and it does NOT pay for all his medical costs.
Dad has to worry about housing, medical supplies, medicine, antibiotics, pain medicine, food, transportation, ER bill, surgeon bill, colorectal appointments, two surgery’s maybe three and follow ups.
Wherever Dad is, one of us has to be with him. He cannot go home between surgeries. With him being deaf, not seeing well, weak, he really can’t be alone as you can understand. It’s all confusing and scary. At 78 years old, he doesn’t bounce like he used to. He is a fighter though.
Please consider helping him. He has been a very generous man to many people. Always willing to help. Always giving...his baked bread, fudge, smoked fish, helping fix things or doing something! Dad has always given to people, to the people of St. Paul Island - as if he was born and raised there. He does it because he is a giver, not because he wants a pat on the back. He has always called it his home.
He really is in need. I do hope that you can find it in your heart to give, even if it isn’t much, every bit adds up and helps.
We, Jama, Michael and myself, would like to thank you in advance. We don’t ask for help very often, but right now our Dad really needs it. Please share our plea. ❤️
~With sincere respect and appreciation,
Cindy Baldwin, Jama Shane and Michael Baldwin
Children of Frank V. Baldwin
Organizer
Cindy Baldwin
Organizer
Anchorage, AK
