Shannon's Story
Donation protected
Hello everyone, my name is Christina, and I am sharing Shannon's story on behalf of a very dear friend and co worker of mine, Babette Bros. I had Babette write down the shorter version of everything that her family, especially Shannon has been going through the past few years. I know the story is a little lengthy, but please take just a few moments out of your day to read, donate, and share Shannon's story. There is no donation too small, and every little bit will help significantly.
Shannon Crawford, my partner, the love of my life for 19 years and father of our 10 year old son is a 42 year old male that suffers from Pulmonary Embolisms. Pulmonary Embolisms are blood clots that develop (normally in the leg) and they travel and get lodged in the lungs. He was first diagnosed with this back in 2011. Normally a person is able to take blood thinning medicine which will break up the clots in order for your body to absorb them and with some monitoring you are able to continue a normal life. Unfortunately in Shannon’s case some clots are stuck in the pulmonary arteries, due to this he has developed and was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension in 2014 and at this time the right side of his heart is currently in failure due to it being overworked. Only 10% of people that suffer with PE’s develop these further complications. It has gradually gotten worst and even though Shannon has been taking all his medicine (Blood thinners, Blood Pressure pills, & Diuretics) as directed it has gotten to the point that he is unable to walk 10 steps without his heart racing and being extremely out of breath. At this point, in order for him to survive he is need of major surgery, a Pulmonary Thromboendarterectomy, PTE for short.
A PTE has significant risk; mortality for the operation is typically 5%, but less in centers with high volume and experience. PTEs are risky because of what is done and how it is done. PTEs involve a full cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), deep hypothermia and full cardiac arrest, with the critical procedure carried out in a standstill operation. [1] The reason for the complexity of procedure comes from the anatomy. The obvious part is that a pulmonary bypass is required. Surgeons cannot operate on something they cannot see; the blood going to the lungs has to be diverted from the pulmonary vasculature and lung function taken care of by a machine. Less obvious is that hypothermia is required. This goes back to the pathophysiology of emboli; they are organized, somewhat delicate, essentially part of the vessel wall, and hard to remove completely, unlike in an acute pulmonary embolectomy (for acute pulmonary embolism, which is done without hypothermia). [2][3] Making this task more difficult is the anatomy of the lung and pathophysiology of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH); lungs also get blood from the bronchial arteries are often enlarged.
The center with the highest volume and experience for this procedure is in San Diego (UCSD). They are the center that developed the procedure and they have the highest volume of success performing PTEs. The good news is that if all goes well with the surgery and recovery he will be able to go back to a normal life. The heart and lungs would make a full recovery. Doctors have told us that this is one of the few things that are curable and that others that have had the procedure are even able to run 10 miles. He would have to be on the blood thinning medicine for the rest of his life but compared to everything else that seems like a small price to pay. We would have to be out in California (San Diego) for at least a month for the procedure and recovery. Although Shannon does have insurance, that hopefully will cover the surgery, traveling expenses as well as housing and food (for myself and our son) are left up to us. On top of these expenses we would also need to maintain our bills here at home while we are away.
At this time we are asking for any amount you can donate as we are desperate and have no other alternative. Shannon obviously is unable to work anymore (he has tried his best to continue working up until June 9th 2015 when he had to go back in to the hospital as his heart was on the verge of shutting down) and I have limited paid time off. We have exhausted every other alternative medicinally to extend and maintain his life and the only option left for his survival is this surgery. Through all of this Shannon has maintained his normal happy disposition never letting his sickness get the best of him. Please help us with this fight as I cannot imagine losing my best friend and our son being without his dad. He is the best father a woman could have ever imagined for their child. We appreciate and thank you in advance for your donations.
Shannon Crawford, my partner, the love of my life for 19 years and father of our 10 year old son is a 42 year old male that suffers from Pulmonary Embolisms. Pulmonary Embolisms are blood clots that develop (normally in the leg) and they travel and get lodged in the lungs. He was first diagnosed with this back in 2011. Normally a person is able to take blood thinning medicine which will break up the clots in order for your body to absorb them and with some monitoring you are able to continue a normal life. Unfortunately in Shannon’s case some clots are stuck in the pulmonary arteries, due to this he has developed and was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension in 2014 and at this time the right side of his heart is currently in failure due to it being overworked. Only 10% of people that suffer with PE’s develop these further complications. It has gradually gotten worst and even though Shannon has been taking all his medicine (Blood thinners, Blood Pressure pills, & Diuretics) as directed it has gotten to the point that he is unable to walk 10 steps without his heart racing and being extremely out of breath. At this point, in order for him to survive he is need of major surgery, a Pulmonary Thromboendarterectomy, PTE for short.
A PTE has significant risk; mortality for the operation is typically 5%, but less in centers with high volume and experience. PTEs are risky because of what is done and how it is done. PTEs involve a full cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), deep hypothermia and full cardiac arrest, with the critical procedure carried out in a standstill operation. [1] The reason for the complexity of procedure comes from the anatomy. The obvious part is that a pulmonary bypass is required. Surgeons cannot operate on something they cannot see; the blood going to the lungs has to be diverted from the pulmonary vasculature and lung function taken care of by a machine. Less obvious is that hypothermia is required. This goes back to the pathophysiology of emboli; they are organized, somewhat delicate, essentially part of the vessel wall, and hard to remove completely, unlike in an acute pulmonary embolectomy (for acute pulmonary embolism, which is done without hypothermia). [2][3] Making this task more difficult is the anatomy of the lung and pathophysiology of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH); lungs also get blood from the bronchial arteries are often enlarged.
The center with the highest volume and experience for this procedure is in San Diego (UCSD). They are the center that developed the procedure and they have the highest volume of success performing PTEs. The good news is that if all goes well with the surgery and recovery he will be able to go back to a normal life. The heart and lungs would make a full recovery. Doctors have told us that this is one of the few things that are curable and that others that have had the procedure are even able to run 10 miles. He would have to be on the blood thinning medicine for the rest of his life but compared to everything else that seems like a small price to pay. We would have to be out in California (San Diego) for at least a month for the procedure and recovery. Although Shannon does have insurance, that hopefully will cover the surgery, traveling expenses as well as housing and food (for myself and our son) are left up to us. On top of these expenses we would also need to maintain our bills here at home while we are away.
At this time we are asking for any amount you can donate as we are desperate and have no other alternative. Shannon obviously is unable to work anymore (he has tried his best to continue working up until June 9th 2015 when he had to go back in to the hospital as his heart was on the verge of shutting down) and I have limited paid time off. We have exhausted every other alternative medicinally to extend and maintain his life and the only option left for his survival is this surgery. Through all of this Shannon has maintained his normal happy disposition never letting his sickness get the best of him. Please help us with this fight as I cannot imagine losing my best friend and our son being without his dad. He is the best father a woman could have ever imagined for their child. We appreciate and thank you in advance for your donations.
Organizer and beneficiary
Christina Webb
Organizer
Florissant, MO
Babette Bros
Beneficiary
