Hello, my name is Siobhan. I am organizing a LFEBridge to fund a critical surgery I need to save my life. Though it is difficult to tell, here is my story. In January 2024, I was suffering from recurrent diverticulitis. This required two hospital stays, and then it got much worse and morphed into a bowel abscess. The intensity of my illness increased significantly, and a CT-guided percutaneous drainage tube and a PICC line were placed. The drainage tube allowed the abscess to drain and the PICC line was needed for IV antibiotics. After this, I was told a bowel resection to remove the problematic section of my GI tract was the best course so I could get better. I was scheduled for a 3-hour laparoscopic surgery. Unfortunately, due to complications during the surgery, it turned into an 8-hour open abdominal surgery. This meant I would not have three small incision locations on my lower abdomen as I had expected. I woke up from surgery to find one very large incision in my lower abdomen. From that point, I began a very long, difficult and complicated healing journey. I spent 12 days in the hospital with another infection and then required a wound vac for over 4 weeks. I was in a lot of pain and discomfort. The wound vac changes were incredibly difficult and I was out of work much, much longer than expected. After abdominal surgery, the risk of a hernia increases. About three months after the bowel resection surgery, I had a coughing fit. I immediately felt that something was not right in my abdomen. Unfortunately, COVID lockdowns were in effect so getting a doctor's appointment was very difficult. When I finally saw my primary doctor, I was told I had developed a hernia the size of a summer squash. She sent me to a general surgeon, who in a brief, cold encounter, told me I was “too fat” for surgery, and that I needed to lose 30 lbs. He ended the short visit by stating surgery would not be possible until I had a BMI of 30 and then he promptly left the room. I was filled with questions and felt as if my needs were not met. I was hurt by his rude demeanor and shocked at how little empathy and caring he showed me. Little did I know at the time, to achieve a BMI of 30, I would be required to lose a lot more than 30 lbs as he first stated. I felt discouraged and hopeless. After researching to seek a second opinion, I finally found a different surgeon somewhat near where I live. After the doctor reviewed my imaging reports, he informed me that I had a spigelian hernia, an uncommon type of ventral hernia. MedicalNewsToday.com describes this as “ ... a rare type of hernia....through the Spigelian fascia or layer of tissue that separates two groups of abdominal muscles. The muscles are called the rectus muscles and the lateral obliques. It happens when part of the bowel pokes through the side of an abdominal muscle. If left untreated, a spigelian hernia can block a portion of the bowel or cut off the blood supply to other organs and tissue. This condition can be life-threatening.” In time, the hernia kept growing in size. I had been back in the hospital for severe abdominal pain after coughing and feeling a tear, almost immediately seeing bruising to my abdomen. Going about my daily business became harder. I ended up with an increasingly large hernia, first the size of a cantaloupe, then soon after it ballooned to the size of a small watermelon. It is extremely painful and is disruptive to working, sleeping, and just plain living. I now have consistent feelings of radiating pain, feelings of pulling, pressure, and burning. I now have some radiation of pain down the front of my right leg. It is exhausting. It is hard to get up in the morning. It’s hard to work. I am in pain day and night. I am fearful every day that something will happen that will cause it to get even larger. The last surgeon actually took the time to explain the medical procedures that need to take place. He agreed to take my case and he answered my questions, advising me on what needed to be done and how. His approach is this: I need to have gastric sleeve surgery first. After approximately 125 lbs weight loss, then surgery to repair the hernia can be done. This is needed so the hernia surgery can be safer and more effective. I am somewhat embarrassed by my story, however, I am sharing it to ask for help, which admittedly is a very hard thing to do. I need financial assistance for my gastric sleeve surgery and one month's rent. I am very worried about complications from this surgery, not being able to get back to work as planned, and then potentially not being able to pay my rent. I am trying to plan ahead and avoid the situation I was in during the last surgery. There were seemingly endless complications, and frustrations and I almost lost my apartment at that time. My estimate is as follows: $800 - surgery fees pre-op $250 - surgical facility fees $825 - monthly rent x 1 month $1875 = total Any monies beyond the amount above, I will apply towards the $6200 out of pocket required by my medical insurance and toward the hernia surgery that is anticipated to be one year after the weightloss Sling surgery. Please remember to have compassion for others, as you never really know what battles they are going through. Sharing my story has not been an easy thing to do, so please keep judgments to yourself. Thank you for taking the time to view my story and please know any donations are greatly appreciated.
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