Richards Family

We were caught completely off guard when my husband became extremly ill. After a week of ER visits and doctors not being able to figure out what was wrong on Saturday morning around 3am I had to call EMS to come and bring my husband Tyler to the hospital again. About a mile away from the house in the ambulance Tyler had a heart attack at only 28 years old. Once arriving to the ER I was unable to see my husband knowing in my gut that something was wrong. Once they let me in the room the doctor in the ER calmly told me that my husband was experiencing a heart attack and they had already been in contact with MMC to get him down into the ICU.

Once Tyler was stable we left. During the transport down Tyler was in and out of conciousness. Once arriving in Portland at the ICU they ran blood work and found that there was an infection that had damaged his heart. The infection came back as Cdiff, a bacterial infection that if goes untreated can be life threatening. The other thing is that it is not common for a young healthy guy to get it. When that was figured out we also had our son tested that night because he has alot of the same symptoms. Our one year old son also tested positive.

While in the ICU the cardiologist ordered a Heart Cath procedure for his heart because it was not pumping right, along with his triponen levels still being high. The procedure showed that his heart did not have any clots but was not the same. Now with the damaged heart, and this infection running through his body making him extremly ill, he spent two days in the ICU and then two days in regular cardiology care. After the four days they decided to finally let Tyler go home, with rest and follow ups.

Of course with nothing getting better with our son we felt like were not able to catch a break. The day after Tyler came home our son wound up in the hospital with extreme dehydration due to how sick he was. The pediatritions were able to okay him going home after lots of fluids and blood work they found his Cdiff was getting stronger. Now with some extremly stong meds for both of them and myself for precations were are stuck.

Tyler is unable to work right now and could be out for up to a few months, leaving us in a bind because he is truly our only source of income. I myself do work part time but am unable to pick up any extra hours so I need to now find a second job. With bills to live and medical bills piling up that Tylers health insurance does not cover we are in need to ask for help. I have already turned for state help but they are unable to do anything until Tyler is out of work for atleast a month. Its only been two weeks and we're already struggling beyond belief.

If you are able we would truly appreciate any help.