Emergency surgery and living costs
Donation protected
Hello, my name is Nathan Storms and i need your help in recovering costs from a life threatening/saving emergency operation.
Ive been suffering for going on three years now with severe crippling abdominal pains/attacks. Seen doctor after doctor, specialist after specialist, had countless regular, specialized, and pay for myself tests performed here in British Columbia and Alberta, numerous imaging done, all to no avail. So like any busy person I found ways to cope and take pain killers to function (go to work, get groceries, normal day to day activities) The attacks had been getting more frequent and lasting longer durations (the last one three days) The last two months my girlfriend (Alesha) has wanted me to go see an alberta doctor with every new attack, and the last one i had started sunday march 24 and did not end till tuesday March 26 when i finally gave in and went tuesday morning as pain killers would not touch the pain and let me function anymore. Alesha once lived in alberta and she knew the doctors there, so thats where we went (i was passed out from pain so i didnt have a say) I awoke at the emergency center and Alesha helped me hobble to the doors and get checked in. I was triaged immediately and sent right into a room where once again i passed out. I was awoken to the doctor asking the usual questions, which i answered and she ordered many blood tests and abdominal x-rays. When everything came back, the doctor said i have some very serious organ/internal issues that need to be addressed right now if possible and that i need an emergency ultra-sound done in Grande Prairie on top of what they have done there. So off to Grande Prairie we went, and it was lights out for me again once in the vehicle. Woke up in Grande Prairie and was helped once again to emerge to check in, then be sent straight to my ultra-sound. The scanned my entire abdomen from top of hip bone to fourth rib from the bottom and from my edge of my left back to my right. We were then told to head back down to emerge and wait there for the surgeon to talk with us about the results, oh boy here we go i thought. So we hobbled back to emerge they found us a room and Alesha waited while i passed out again. I came to just as the surgeon was coming in the room and as he went over the scans with us explained to me my gall bladder was full of bile and stones and needs to be removed and that eventually someone would have to remove my spleen also as it was extremelly enlargened, almost touching the top of my hip bone, and put it at extreme risk of bursting from any sort of impact with that side of my body. At this point my pain seemed to be gone, not sure if it was actually gone or i was numb from the news. The surgeon asked me where my current pain level was, i said it was zero. He gave me two options and it was based on pain level. If i was still in pain stay the night and eventually get the surgery done or if my pain was gone, I would get a prescription for way way stronger pain killers and come back when it can actually be booked and guarantee a spot. I was no longer in pain so i took option two. The surgeon asked me if any other imaging had been done in British Columbia (as Alberta's health care and British Columbia's health care systems cannot be seen by one another) I told him there has been plenty and listed it off for him. He told us which ones he wanted to see to have a complete picture and come back friday March 29th. He also said not to miss this appointment as my condition was life threatening and very urgent and had I still been in pain I would have been staying for emergency surgery (little did I know how bad it really was at this point) So we filled the prescription and came back on friday. We went through the rest of the doctor reports and imaging with him and I being not in pain all day could see everything much clearer and it made way more sense. So we booked a surgery for saturday March 30, 7am as the surgeon was booked friday. He also informed us it would be a different surgeon working saturday and that he would want to see all the information too. He made it extremely clear how important getting this surgery is, every chance he got. I finally started to really realize how bad off I really was. So we where there for 7am saturday March 30 The new surgeon looked over all the images, doctor reports and other information. He said change of plans, i'm going to take both gall bladder and spleen out today together through a big incision, rather than two surgeries. So a day surgery to remove my gall bladder had turned into a 5 hr surgery with a unknown amount of hospital night stays in my future.
The surgery was done saturday March 30 and I was discharged wednesday April 3rd.
Im facing a couple more trips to Grande Prairie for follow up appointments (that i know of), having the staples removed, and blood tests to verify all is well. Hoping no complications come up.
Im hoping to re-cover all my costs and Alesha's costs, as she drove me everywhere and was there every step of the way, every day. We are looking at fuel, food, accommodations, and parking. We're also hoping that we can have some help in covering bills that come from now till i can go back to work
If you can donate awesome, I'm super appreciative of it, no matter the amount. Every bit helps
Thank you all soo much
Ive been suffering for going on three years now with severe crippling abdominal pains/attacks. Seen doctor after doctor, specialist after specialist, had countless regular, specialized, and pay for myself tests performed here in British Columbia and Alberta, numerous imaging done, all to no avail. So like any busy person I found ways to cope and take pain killers to function (go to work, get groceries, normal day to day activities) The attacks had been getting more frequent and lasting longer durations (the last one three days) The last two months my girlfriend (Alesha) has wanted me to go see an alberta doctor with every new attack, and the last one i had started sunday march 24 and did not end till tuesday March 26 when i finally gave in and went tuesday morning as pain killers would not touch the pain and let me function anymore. Alesha once lived in alberta and she knew the doctors there, so thats where we went (i was passed out from pain so i didnt have a say) I awoke at the emergency center and Alesha helped me hobble to the doors and get checked in. I was triaged immediately and sent right into a room where once again i passed out. I was awoken to the doctor asking the usual questions, which i answered and she ordered many blood tests and abdominal x-rays. When everything came back, the doctor said i have some very serious organ/internal issues that need to be addressed right now if possible and that i need an emergency ultra-sound done in Grande Prairie on top of what they have done there. So off to Grande Prairie we went, and it was lights out for me again once in the vehicle. Woke up in Grande Prairie and was helped once again to emerge to check in, then be sent straight to my ultra-sound. The scanned my entire abdomen from top of hip bone to fourth rib from the bottom and from my edge of my left back to my right. We were then told to head back down to emerge and wait there for the surgeon to talk with us about the results, oh boy here we go i thought. So we hobbled back to emerge they found us a room and Alesha waited while i passed out again. I came to just as the surgeon was coming in the room and as he went over the scans with us explained to me my gall bladder was full of bile and stones and needs to be removed and that eventually someone would have to remove my spleen also as it was extremelly enlargened, almost touching the top of my hip bone, and put it at extreme risk of bursting from any sort of impact with that side of my body. At this point my pain seemed to be gone, not sure if it was actually gone or i was numb from the news. The surgeon asked me where my current pain level was, i said it was zero. He gave me two options and it was based on pain level. If i was still in pain stay the night and eventually get the surgery done or if my pain was gone, I would get a prescription for way way stronger pain killers and come back when it can actually be booked and guarantee a spot. I was no longer in pain so i took option two. The surgeon asked me if any other imaging had been done in British Columbia (as Alberta's health care and British Columbia's health care systems cannot be seen by one another) I told him there has been plenty and listed it off for him. He told us which ones he wanted to see to have a complete picture and come back friday March 29th. He also said not to miss this appointment as my condition was life threatening and very urgent and had I still been in pain I would have been staying for emergency surgery (little did I know how bad it really was at this point) So we filled the prescription and came back on friday. We went through the rest of the doctor reports and imaging with him and I being not in pain all day could see everything much clearer and it made way more sense. So we booked a surgery for saturday March 30, 7am as the surgeon was booked friday. He also informed us it would be a different surgeon working saturday and that he would want to see all the information too. He made it extremely clear how important getting this surgery is, every chance he got. I finally started to really realize how bad off I really was. So we where there for 7am saturday March 30 The new surgeon looked over all the images, doctor reports and other information. He said change of plans, i'm going to take both gall bladder and spleen out today together through a big incision, rather than two surgeries. So a day surgery to remove my gall bladder had turned into a 5 hr surgery with a unknown amount of hospital night stays in my future.
The surgery was done saturday March 30 and I was discharged wednesday April 3rd.
Im facing a couple more trips to Grande Prairie for follow up appointments (that i know of), having the staples removed, and blood tests to verify all is well. Hoping no complications come up.
Im hoping to re-cover all my costs and Alesha's costs, as she drove me everywhere and was there every step of the way, every day. We are looking at fuel, food, accommodations, and parking. We're also hoping that we can have some help in covering bills that come from now till i can go back to work
If you can donate awesome, I'm super appreciative of it, no matter the amount. Every bit helps
Thank you all soo much
Fundraising team (2)
Nathan Dennis Storms
Organizer
Dawson Creek, BC
Alesha Ross
Team member
