Nicole Carmine

Debra (Debbie) Chechuck was transported by ambulance to Trinity Hospital from her home on January 14, 2026, due to not being able to feel her legs. After several tests were run, not only did they discover she had complete blockage in both legs, but they also found that she had a heart attack the week before that she was unaware of. They then transported her to Pittsburgh to run further testing. Upon running further testing, they contacted immediate family to inform us that a decision needed to be made. She needed to have bypass surgery to re-route blood flow to her legs as she had no flow from the knees down. They let us know there was a 70% chance she would not survive the surgery. If she didn’t have the surgery, she would pass in a week. They also let us know that due to the heart attack she had the week before, her heart was only functioning at 25%, and usually for surgery, they like to see at least 55%, which also posed another risk. We made the decision to do the surgery in hopes she would make it through and recover. After a 7-hour extensive surgery, she made it out and was on her way to recovery. The surgeon let us know that while they did the surgery, they found that the tissue and muscle in her left leg were completely dead, but the right leg still had some alive tissue and muscle. They mentioned that we needed to be thinking of a future surgery that would involve amputation of her left leg and also possibly her right, from the knee down. They explained that the dead tissue and muscle from the left leg were causing toxins (potassium) to spread in her body. They brought along a nephrologist to discuss an aggressive round of dialysis that could help to flush those toxins from her body and bring her counts back to normal range. Her count was at 6.7, and if her levels reached 7, it could stop her heart. They started her on an insulin drip while her port was placed for the dialysis. The insulin drip was able to bring her levels down to 5.2. She then had a 2.5-hour aggressive round of dialysis treatment. Labs were then run to see where her levels were. As her family went home for the evening, just shortly after midnight, her daughter called in to check on her lab results to find that her care team was doing compressions and would call back soon. Dr. A called back to let us know she was without a heartbeat for 4 minutes until they were able to revive her. At 9:01 a.m., Debbie unexpectedly lost her life at the young age of 58, due to multi-organ failure and rhabdomyolysis. She leaves behind not only her husband, but her children and grandchildren. Her family is seeking help in covering funeral costs to give her a proper farewell. If you could please help, it would be truly appreciated.