Gabrielle Gould's Support Fund

On Friday, April 29th I got an urgent call. My sister, Gabrielle Gould (aka, Vicky Stancliff, Vicky Gould, Gay Warnock, Vicky Warnock) was in the hospital in Cancun, Mexico, fighting for her life.  Aaron, her husband, took her there in a taxi after she'd  been experiencing excruciating pain in her left foot.  By late evening, she was in emergency surgery that lasted through the night. When Aaron called on Saturday morning, the update was not good.  Surgeons had placed a Gore-tex graft in her femoral artery to repair an aneurism. There was other damage -- the aneurism had thrown clots down her leg and though they'd tried to clear them, the prognosis wasn't good -- she had no pulse in her left foot and she had an unidentified infection.  The level of care at the Mexican hospital was not good enough.  The family scrambled and we were able to get Gabrielle airlifted to Miami, the closest US city to Cancun, to get the advanced medical care she needed. 

Since Kathleen and I greeted her at Jackson Memorial Hospital in the wee hours of 5/1/16, Gabrielle has undergone 9 surgeries.  She was in terrible shape -- we thought she was going to die, and so did she. Initially, the resident surgeon said she would lose her leg from the hip down but through Aaron's insistence and tenacity, he got the right surgeon to intercede and after an arteriogram followed by a long and intense surgery, where the faulty Mexican graft was replaced and other damage done in Cancun repaired, they were able to restore blood flow through most of her leg.  That was on Sunday, May 1st.  Watching, waiting and more surgeries ensued but in the long run, after all options  were exhausted, Gabrielle's foot couldn't be saved.

Gabrielle underwent a lower leg amputation as well as several other major surgeries to replace the gore-tex grafts and bypasses with veins from her right leg. It was important to keep the blood flowing in order to save as much of the muscle in her left leg as possible so she could have a good chance at getting a prosthethis.  There have been multiple complications and her stay in the hospital has been extended with each one.  We thought she would be home in Virginia by now but she is still in Miami.

Our mother, Rosemary, has suffered from dementia for a few years.  Gabrielle and Aaron took on the huge task and expense of  renovating their house in order to make it habitable for Rosemary so she could have a safe and loving home.  After several expensive false starts with unscrupulous contractors who stole a significant amount of money, the construction was almost finished, allowing Rosemary to move in with Gabrielle and Aaron on Thanksgiving weekend last year.  On February 23rd, 2016, a fire erupted in the house next door. The entire development burned to the ground but somehow, the Gould's house was saved. There is major damage and the house is not liveable. Gabrielle, Aaron, Rosemary and their pets, Mary and Gidget, have been living in a Residence Inn until repairs can be made. They are still there.

When they finally felt comfortable after so many months of upheaval, Gabrielle and Aaron arranged a vacation to Cancun. They needed it! Months of construction problems followed by the trauma and devastation of the fire dictated that they go.  Never did they think that the vacation they so needed and deserved would change their lives so drastically.  Imagine flying off for a carefree week and waking up on the verge of death in another country a week later. Unbelievable but true.

Gabrielle has medical insurance. They pay nearly $1,000 per month it.  It covered the airlift and Mexican hospital bill but it doesn't begin to cover all the extra expenses associated with a long hospital stay in a city far from home.   The high annual deductible and out of pocket payments, the cost of hotels for Aaron and Gabrielle's other care takers, air fare back and forth to Miami for family and the cost for the caretaker in Virginia with Rosemary add up fast.

With the deductible, hotel/air costs and loss of business (Gabrielle runs the office), they are out thousands and thousands of dollars. And, now that she is finally out of the woods and looking to go home soon, we will need to purchase first class tickets due to her medical restrictions -- she must keep the remainder of her left leg straight, which is impossible in coach.  Insurance won't cover the return flight.

Gabrielle has always been a person who would give you the shirt off her back. She takes care of everyone she meets and she is the true definition of a Good Samaritan.  We'd like to get her home to begin her physical therapy and recovery without the threat of more debt hanging over her head.  All in, we figure it is about $10,000 by the time we get her home.  We will find a way to cover the prosthesis and necessary additional home alterations but if we could cover the out of pocket for hospitalization and recovery, we think it's a good start.

So many people have followed the story through Facebook since we started posting on 4/30.  If any of you can help, we'd appreciate it. Please feel free to share with others.  Every little bit will help.  Thank you.