Save Alyson's Life

In June of 2018 Alyson and I went to sleep, I awoke and went about my day, Alyson had been sick for a long time.  Due to her illnesses she sometimes is asleep 16 hours at a time.  After 18 hours I checked on her to find her slumped over the side of her bed, with her legs, arms, and forehead so swollen with edema that her skin had split and fluid was leaking.  So much fluid that her suede slippers where soaking wet.  I tried to wake her up but she was unresponsive.   I lifted her  back in the bed and she started to have seizures. 

I called 9-1-1and an ambulance came very quickly.  The EMT advised that she  could well have sepsis.  We were rushed to the emergency room at Mercy Hospital of Folsom, Alyson had gone into septic shock.  Her organs where failing and they informed me that she could die at anytime.   They placed her in the trauma room and put her on life support.  That was the longest night of my entire life.  The woman I fell in love with and moved halfway across the world to be with was being attacked by something that I could not protect her from, I could not fix it, I could just sit there, helpless, as she was being ravaged from the inside by a silent killer. However, my Alyson is a fighter! She held onto life and they moved her to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where they discovered that she had fallen victim to a severe Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) which had put her into septic shock. 

A week went  by and she woke up with a smile!  She was then placed in the Medical Telemetry ward and was there for a further week.  During her stay in telemetry they had discovered that due to years of being morbidly obese (she lost over 250lbs 10 years ago and has maintained a healthy weight since then) she had developed non-alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver due to fatty deposits.   The effect of this is very large amount of ammonia in the system, which can lead to Hepatic Encephalopathy (HE) and ultimately, death.  July 19, 2018 Alyson was transported to Westview Healthcare in Auburn California for skilled nursing and physical therapy.   The ammonia levels in her system have been rising, Alyson is unable to walk due to septic shock and the severe edema in her legs (60lbs of excess fluid) as well as the atrophy that has occurred due to weeks of being bedridden. 

The medication she is on to reduce the ammonia levels has played havoc on her skin and she has extreme sores in very delicate places.  She needs 24/7 care, Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA's) and Nurses have to keep her clean and monitor her.  Physical therapy is there everyday as well to help her get stronger.  Alyson is getting stronger but the progress is necessarily slow.  I have health insurance with my employer, however, due to the stringent requirements and the insurance company being more concerned with profit rather than human life, her stay has been denied twice, once I appealed it and it was successful, the second time, we have to wait and see, I am not hopeful. 

Her medical staff at Westview agree that she needs constant care and that she is a fall risk and will die if she is at home with me due to the issues that she has, and my inability to be home 24/7.  The ammonia levels are on the rise and she also has been diagnosed with Adrenal Fatigue, she is in a constant state of fight or flight. 

This fundraising is for her to stay at Westview Healthcare for the time it will take for her to be strong enough to come home, alive,  where she belongs.  The charge per month is approximately $7,000.  I would not do this if there were any other way, Alyson cannot possibly be expected to heal with the threat of eviction from the one place that is trying to help her get better.

Thank you so much for sharing, donating, praying, thinking of my Alyson.