Kevin Booth's Medical Fund
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This fund was created by the family of Kevin Booth to help raise money for Kevin to travel to South Florida for an extensive, high risk surgery to reverse his ileostomy (more commonly known by most as a colostomy) and for reconstructive surgery to build a new colon.
At the age of 25, Kevin was diagnosed with Severe Chronic Ulcerative Colitis by his GI Specialist. He lived with constant daily abdominal pain that was unrelieved by pain medication, nausea, and bloody diarrhea multiple times a day. His disease progressed rapidly, and he became increasingly sicker, having issues with low hemoglobin and requiring multiple hospitalizations for multiple blood transfusions, colonoscopies and other tests, as well as many trials of different medications to help manage his pain, inflammation and bleeding. He did not have much success with most of the common Ulcerative Colitis (UC) meds, and was then started on very expensive IV infusion medication, all which were not successful in helping with managing his UC. After approximately one year or so of living with the daily chronic, debilitating pain, bloody stools, loss of appetite, weakness and lethargy, as well as almost weekly trips to the ER and hospitalizations, Kevin was unable to continue working fulltime. He had no energy, no appetite, especially knowing that any and all food he ate would turn into bloody diarrhea. He was tired and short of breath all the time due to his low hemoglobin levels. He made numerous trips to the bathroom for long periods of time. He began to rapidly lose weight from not being able to eat or sustain what he ate. He was suffering from malnutrition. Kevin lost over 100 lbs. in just less than one year’s time. At that time, he was living in the hospital more than he was at home. His doctors and specialists were unsure how to further help Kevin. They had tried all the treatments and medications that were available but were unsuccessful. His GI Specialist was in the process of making arrangements to send Kevin to another specialist at the Univ of Florida when Kevin was readmitted to the hospital again for his UC. Kevin was often visited in the hospital by a very special GI Nurse Practitioner, Holly Adams, who always went above and beyond with helping Kevin during his hospitalizations. The GI Specialist was in the process of making arrangements for an ambulance to transport Kevin to Shands Hospital at the University of Florida. They were hoping to have him admitted and treated by a GI Specialist there as they were not quite sure what further treatment they could offer Kevin. At this point, Kevin was down to 118 lbs., very sick and weak, and unable to care for himself any longer. After what was supposed to be a routine visit from Holly, ARNP, before transporting Kevin to the ambulance, Holly noticed a foul odor on Kevin’s breath and sent him for a CT scan. It was noted on his CT scan that he had a ruptured colon and his body was septic, which can be fatal. He was immediately rushed into emergency surgery, where it was found his colon had ruptured due to the chronic bleeding and inflammation caused by his UC. At that time, the surgeons were not even sure if Kevin would survive. By the grace of God and the amazing care Kevin received from the physicians, ARNPs, nurses and staff at Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, FL, Kevin spent almost two weeks in ICU and almost two more months in the hospital recovering from his surgery. His colon was so damaged and not repairable that he had to receive an ileostomy (or colostomy with a colostomy bag). He was unable to walk for many weeks afterwards, requiring physical therapy to help rebuild muscle and regain his strength back. He required total care. Over time, he made some improvements. Over the last couple of years, Kevin has been able to regain his independence, gain and sustain a healthy weight and been able to work again. However, it was later discovered that Kevin was dealt another bad hand. During a scheduled colonoscopy and endoscopy procedure to see if Kevin would be a candidate to have his ileostomy reversed, it was then discovered that Kevin also suffers from Chron’s disease. Chron’s disease is also a chronic inflammatory disease that is not curable and causes pain, bleeding and inflammation to the GI tract, similar to Ulcerative Colitis, but they are two different diseases. He was given medications to try to help control and manage the inflammation and bleeding caused to other parts of his GI tract from the Chron’s. His doctors prescribed different medications, but none seemed to work. He was later started on trials of IV infusion meds, which seemed to be helping. His local GI Specialist was optimistic and referred Kevin to GI Surgery Specialists. Kevin has seen multiple specialists, and his most recent trip to see the GI Specialists and The University of Alabama has now turned into a surgery consultation in January 2017 with a GI Surgery Specialist in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
Kevin has come a long way since being diagnosed with both of these diseases. We are looking forward to him being able to have surgery to reverse his ileostomy, which can hopefully return him to having a much more normal life, a life that every 30 year old should be able to have. No more colostomy bags! No more constant trips to the bathroom to empty the colostomy bag! No more worrying about being out in public and if the bag leaks or bursts! He will still always live with and have to continue to help manage these diseases as neither are curable but treatable. Kevin is considered a very high risk patient due to his extensive medical history with both diseases. As a family, we are trying to help financially as much as we can, but the surgery he needs is very, very expensive and the amount of time Kevin will be away from work could be lengthy. This surgery will require a lot of time off from work and multiple trips, not only for Kevin but for our family as well, to South Florida for pre-op appointments, surgery, and multiple post-operative appointments. Any additional support and assistance from family and friends is greatly appreciated not only by Kevin, but from our family as well.
Thank you and God Bless!
At the age of 25, Kevin was diagnosed with Severe Chronic Ulcerative Colitis by his GI Specialist. He lived with constant daily abdominal pain that was unrelieved by pain medication, nausea, and bloody diarrhea multiple times a day. His disease progressed rapidly, and he became increasingly sicker, having issues with low hemoglobin and requiring multiple hospitalizations for multiple blood transfusions, colonoscopies and other tests, as well as many trials of different medications to help manage his pain, inflammation and bleeding. He did not have much success with most of the common Ulcerative Colitis (UC) meds, and was then started on very expensive IV infusion medication, all which were not successful in helping with managing his UC. After approximately one year or so of living with the daily chronic, debilitating pain, bloody stools, loss of appetite, weakness and lethargy, as well as almost weekly trips to the ER and hospitalizations, Kevin was unable to continue working fulltime. He had no energy, no appetite, especially knowing that any and all food he ate would turn into bloody diarrhea. He was tired and short of breath all the time due to his low hemoglobin levels. He made numerous trips to the bathroom for long periods of time. He began to rapidly lose weight from not being able to eat or sustain what he ate. He was suffering from malnutrition. Kevin lost over 100 lbs. in just less than one year’s time. At that time, he was living in the hospital more than he was at home. His doctors and specialists were unsure how to further help Kevin. They had tried all the treatments and medications that were available but were unsuccessful. His GI Specialist was in the process of making arrangements to send Kevin to another specialist at the Univ of Florida when Kevin was readmitted to the hospital again for his UC. Kevin was often visited in the hospital by a very special GI Nurse Practitioner, Holly Adams, who always went above and beyond with helping Kevin during his hospitalizations. The GI Specialist was in the process of making arrangements for an ambulance to transport Kevin to Shands Hospital at the University of Florida. They were hoping to have him admitted and treated by a GI Specialist there as they were not quite sure what further treatment they could offer Kevin. At this point, Kevin was down to 118 lbs., very sick and weak, and unable to care for himself any longer. After what was supposed to be a routine visit from Holly, ARNP, before transporting Kevin to the ambulance, Holly noticed a foul odor on Kevin’s breath and sent him for a CT scan. It was noted on his CT scan that he had a ruptured colon and his body was septic, which can be fatal. He was immediately rushed into emergency surgery, where it was found his colon had ruptured due to the chronic bleeding and inflammation caused by his UC. At that time, the surgeons were not even sure if Kevin would survive. By the grace of God and the amazing care Kevin received from the physicians, ARNPs, nurses and staff at Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, FL, Kevin spent almost two weeks in ICU and almost two more months in the hospital recovering from his surgery. His colon was so damaged and not repairable that he had to receive an ileostomy (or colostomy with a colostomy bag). He was unable to walk for many weeks afterwards, requiring physical therapy to help rebuild muscle and regain his strength back. He required total care. Over time, he made some improvements. Over the last couple of years, Kevin has been able to regain his independence, gain and sustain a healthy weight and been able to work again. However, it was later discovered that Kevin was dealt another bad hand. During a scheduled colonoscopy and endoscopy procedure to see if Kevin would be a candidate to have his ileostomy reversed, it was then discovered that Kevin also suffers from Chron’s disease. Chron’s disease is also a chronic inflammatory disease that is not curable and causes pain, bleeding and inflammation to the GI tract, similar to Ulcerative Colitis, but they are two different diseases. He was given medications to try to help control and manage the inflammation and bleeding caused to other parts of his GI tract from the Chron’s. His doctors prescribed different medications, but none seemed to work. He was later started on trials of IV infusion meds, which seemed to be helping. His local GI Specialist was optimistic and referred Kevin to GI Surgery Specialists. Kevin has seen multiple specialists, and his most recent trip to see the GI Specialists and The University of Alabama has now turned into a surgery consultation in January 2017 with a GI Surgery Specialist in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
Kevin has come a long way since being diagnosed with both of these diseases. We are looking forward to him being able to have surgery to reverse his ileostomy, which can hopefully return him to having a much more normal life, a life that every 30 year old should be able to have. No more colostomy bags! No more constant trips to the bathroom to empty the colostomy bag! No more worrying about being out in public and if the bag leaks or bursts! He will still always live with and have to continue to help manage these diseases as neither are curable but treatable. Kevin is considered a very high risk patient due to his extensive medical history with both diseases. As a family, we are trying to help financially as much as we can, but the surgery he needs is very, very expensive and the amount of time Kevin will be away from work could be lengthy. This surgery will require a lot of time off from work and multiple trips, not only for Kevin but for our family as well, to South Florida for pre-op appointments, surgery, and multiple post-operative appointments. Any additional support and assistance from family and friends is greatly appreciated not only by Kevin, but from our family as well.
Thank you and God Bless!
Organiser and beneficiary
Adam Booth
Organiser
Pensacola, FL
Kevin Booth
Beneficiary
