Julie Slagle-Ross Memorial Fund
Donation protected
Hello everyone. As some of you may already know, Julie Marie Slagle-Ross passed away on Sunday, October 16th. My family and I are grieving, and this was not the expected outcome. The last thing my family thought they would be doing is planning a funeral for Julie. Due to the unexpected nature of this situation, we are trying to raise money for her memorial services and some of the medical bills that require payment. As you can imagine, her husband and two children do not have the means to emotionally or financially take care of this. Kathy Slagle is the beneficiary on this campaign. She is our mother and the one handling the funeral arrangements .
If you knew Julie, you knew that she was full of life. Julie had the sweetest, most bubbly personality. She was someone who shared so much love, loyality, joy, and strength. She was a devoted sister, daughter, wife, and most of all, mother to two children, Anthony and Ianna.
Our family still does not have answers on what caused Julie to become so sick, but I will attempt to explain the situation.
Several years ago Julie went to a routine doctor visit as she was experiencing fatigue. She was diagnosed anemic and put on iron supplements. As time passed, many more symptoms presented themselves. She had gradual weightloss which turned into worrisome rapid weightloss, she had debilitating fatigue, water retention in her feet and legs, among other symptoms. She began collapsing and her water retention eventually moved up to her stomach. She went to the doctor. The doctors determined she was extremely malnourished and anemic and admitted her into the hospital right away.
She was there for several weeks. They did many blood tests, scans, a colonoscopy and an endoscopy. They found a small area of scar tissue in her colon, but it came back negative for cancer. They investigated celiac and crohns disease, but with no solid answers. They made the decision that since she was not receiving nutrition through her GI tract, that they would put her on TPN (total parenteral nutrition) which is liquid nutrition through a PICC line that goes through a vein in the arm all the way up above the heart.
Julie went home, and was on TPN for about 5 months. She had around 8 blood transfusions for severe anemia during this time as well. Being on TPN required her to have heavy liquid bags of nutrition pumping through her vein 24/7. During this time, she continued to go down hill. Her water retention continued, she seemed to get even more weak, and lose more weight.
In August, Julie began having a difficult time breathing, getting up, laying down, etc. This was also a time she was scheduled for a 2nd colonoscopy with a colon specialist. She went, even though she was extremely weak. This specialist determined the scar tissue was not cancer (as they wanted to be sure), but he was very concerned about her liver. He asked if any doctors had investigated her liver, to which she told him no, not that she was aware of. He also had some other concerns as her breathing was difficult.
Blood work soon determined she had a severe heart infection, which was causing her breathing difficulty and growing weakness. This heart infection was caused from the TPN PICC line. The PICC line was removed and she was put into the ICU, where she was for 2 weeks with high dose antibiotics, and hourly monitoring. This ICU visit was when things became even more worrisome. Julie was so thin that you could see her bones, her hair was falling out, she was pale, and she could hardly breathe. And yet, Julie and our family still had no official answers on what was causing her chronic symptoms.
Julie went home with another PICC line to dose her with 7 more weeks of antibiotics for the heart. The focus became healing her heart before they could do anything else. These antibiotics made Julie constantly sick and tired. Eventually though, they said the infection was gone, and she did not want to use anymore PICC lines for fear of another infection, and the fact that she was still malnourished. During her ICU visit, blood work determined that Julie's liver enzymes were in chaos, and that she also had hepatitis C. When we learned this news, my family did extensive research. We began to think maybe Julie had hepatitis for many years, even though she was never a drug user and didn't have prior blood transfusions. It takes an average of 20 years for hepatitis C to cause liver damage, and all of her symptoms were classic liver damage symptoms. We thought we were getting answers. I even began research into living-donor transplantation, as any of us would have been willing to volunteer part of our liver for Julie in order for her to grow a full healthy liver from the transplant, if that was an option.
Eventually though, doctors said Julie's blood work showed low levels of hepatitis C, which would likely mean she had recently contracted it from one of the many blood transfusions she had. This was another set-back. It meant Julie's liver was damaged, but we had no answers as to why. This also meant that she had gotten ANOTHER infection during her treatment that was supposed to help her get better.
Julie was at home taking many medications prescribed to her after her heart infection was cleared. There was a short time that she seemed in higher spirits. She was talking to all of us more, and saying things like how she was going to focus on her health, and do anything it takes to get better for herself and for her children. But again, she began to get really bad water retention in her body (which was dangerous), and was sleeping almost all day. She was very frail, and we still had no answers.
On Friday, October 14th, my mom, who was Julie's caretaker during all of this, went over to Julie's house per usual. She watched the kids and helped take care of Julie. Julie was sleeping when she got there, but it didn't take long to learn something was not right. Julie woke up and was having a difficult time focusing. She kept repeating things, had slurred speech, and was not saying things that made sense. Her movements and gestures were also worrisome. My mom called Julie's home nurse, my brother, and 911. The EMT's took the list of all her medications, put her on an IV drip, and rushed her to ER.
In the ER, they said Julie was falling in and out of conciousness and the doctors had to put a tube in her airway to keep her breathing. She was not able to follow the doctors commands and instructions. Within several hours, we had our loved one go from being a sick person to a person on life support. Her organs began to shut down, and they had machines helping her heart, breathing, and all other organ functions. My family was together at the hospital. The doctors told my family to prepare for the worst. We went to talk to Julie, even though she was not awake and the machines were doing all of the work. The doctors told us she would be able to hear us. They had a huge team of doctors working on Julie on Saturday and throughout the night into Sunday.
On Sunday afternoon, after a long fight to hold on, her body could not keep going, and she passed away. My family is devastated. Her children are confused and her husband is left a single parent. And yet, we still don't know why. The doctors explained they would like to do an autopsy because they still don't have the full answers themselves.
If you can donate anything, even a small amount, my family will be forever greatful. This is the second child of 6 that my mother has had to lay to rest. It is a time of confusion, heartbreak, and unexplainable greif. My family will come together to help Julie's husband, Charles, and her two amazing children, Anthony and Ianna. Those children had to go through things most children never will. They took care of their mommy to the point of Ianna sleeping on a couch next to Julie to make she her needs were taken care of during the night. Any donations that you are able to provide will help them and the rest of the family during this difficult time. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Julie went through life with constant love, strength, and compassion. We will use her love and strength to help guide us through this difficult time. We will keep everyone updated on all of the funeral arrangements and official answers on what caused Julie to be so sick as we get them. Thank you.
If you knew Julie, you knew that she was full of life. Julie had the sweetest, most bubbly personality. She was someone who shared so much love, loyality, joy, and strength. She was a devoted sister, daughter, wife, and most of all, mother to two children, Anthony and Ianna.
Our family still does not have answers on what caused Julie to become so sick, but I will attempt to explain the situation.
Several years ago Julie went to a routine doctor visit as she was experiencing fatigue. She was diagnosed anemic and put on iron supplements. As time passed, many more symptoms presented themselves. She had gradual weightloss which turned into worrisome rapid weightloss, she had debilitating fatigue, water retention in her feet and legs, among other symptoms. She began collapsing and her water retention eventually moved up to her stomach. She went to the doctor. The doctors determined she was extremely malnourished and anemic and admitted her into the hospital right away.
She was there for several weeks. They did many blood tests, scans, a colonoscopy and an endoscopy. They found a small area of scar tissue in her colon, but it came back negative for cancer. They investigated celiac and crohns disease, but with no solid answers. They made the decision that since she was not receiving nutrition through her GI tract, that they would put her on TPN (total parenteral nutrition) which is liquid nutrition through a PICC line that goes through a vein in the arm all the way up above the heart.
Julie went home, and was on TPN for about 5 months. She had around 8 blood transfusions for severe anemia during this time as well. Being on TPN required her to have heavy liquid bags of nutrition pumping through her vein 24/7. During this time, she continued to go down hill. Her water retention continued, she seemed to get even more weak, and lose more weight.
In August, Julie began having a difficult time breathing, getting up, laying down, etc. This was also a time she was scheduled for a 2nd colonoscopy with a colon specialist. She went, even though she was extremely weak. This specialist determined the scar tissue was not cancer (as they wanted to be sure), but he was very concerned about her liver. He asked if any doctors had investigated her liver, to which she told him no, not that she was aware of. He also had some other concerns as her breathing was difficult.
Blood work soon determined she had a severe heart infection, which was causing her breathing difficulty and growing weakness. This heart infection was caused from the TPN PICC line. The PICC line was removed and she was put into the ICU, where she was for 2 weeks with high dose antibiotics, and hourly monitoring. This ICU visit was when things became even more worrisome. Julie was so thin that you could see her bones, her hair was falling out, she was pale, and she could hardly breathe. And yet, Julie and our family still had no official answers on what was causing her chronic symptoms.
Julie went home with another PICC line to dose her with 7 more weeks of antibiotics for the heart. The focus became healing her heart before they could do anything else. These antibiotics made Julie constantly sick and tired. Eventually though, they said the infection was gone, and she did not want to use anymore PICC lines for fear of another infection, and the fact that she was still malnourished. During her ICU visit, blood work determined that Julie's liver enzymes were in chaos, and that she also had hepatitis C. When we learned this news, my family did extensive research. We began to think maybe Julie had hepatitis for many years, even though she was never a drug user and didn't have prior blood transfusions. It takes an average of 20 years for hepatitis C to cause liver damage, and all of her symptoms were classic liver damage symptoms. We thought we were getting answers. I even began research into living-donor transplantation, as any of us would have been willing to volunteer part of our liver for Julie in order for her to grow a full healthy liver from the transplant, if that was an option.
Eventually though, doctors said Julie's blood work showed low levels of hepatitis C, which would likely mean she had recently contracted it from one of the many blood transfusions she had. This was another set-back. It meant Julie's liver was damaged, but we had no answers as to why. This also meant that she had gotten ANOTHER infection during her treatment that was supposed to help her get better.
Julie was at home taking many medications prescribed to her after her heart infection was cleared. There was a short time that she seemed in higher spirits. She was talking to all of us more, and saying things like how she was going to focus on her health, and do anything it takes to get better for herself and for her children. But again, she began to get really bad water retention in her body (which was dangerous), and was sleeping almost all day. She was very frail, and we still had no answers.
On Friday, October 14th, my mom, who was Julie's caretaker during all of this, went over to Julie's house per usual. She watched the kids and helped take care of Julie. Julie was sleeping when she got there, but it didn't take long to learn something was not right. Julie woke up and was having a difficult time focusing. She kept repeating things, had slurred speech, and was not saying things that made sense. Her movements and gestures were also worrisome. My mom called Julie's home nurse, my brother, and 911. The EMT's took the list of all her medications, put her on an IV drip, and rushed her to ER.
In the ER, they said Julie was falling in and out of conciousness and the doctors had to put a tube in her airway to keep her breathing. She was not able to follow the doctors commands and instructions. Within several hours, we had our loved one go from being a sick person to a person on life support. Her organs began to shut down, and they had machines helping her heart, breathing, and all other organ functions. My family was together at the hospital. The doctors told my family to prepare for the worst. We went to talk to Julie, even though she was not awake and the machines were doing all of the work. The doctors told us she would be able to hear us. They had a huge team of doctors working on Julie on Saturday and throughout the night into Sunday.
On Sunday afternoon, after a long fight to hold on, her body could not keep going, and she passed away. My family is devastated. Her children are confused and her husband is left a single parent. And yet, we still don't know why. The doctors explained they would like to do an autopsy because they still don't have the full answers themselves.
If you can donate anything, even a small amount, my family will be forever greatful. This is the second child of 6 that my mother has had to lay to rest. It is a time of confusion, heartbreak, and unexplainable greif. My family will come together to help Julie's husband, Charles, and her two amazing children, Anthony and Ianna. Those children had to go through things most children never will. They took care of their mommy to the point of Ianna sleeping on a couch next to Julie to make she her needs were taken care of during the night. Any donations that you are able to provide will help them and the rest of the family during this difficult time. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Julie went through life with constant love, strength, and compassion. We will use her love and strength to help guide us through this difficult time. We will keep everyone updated on all of the funeral arrangements and official answers on what caused Julie to be so sick as we get them. Thank you.
Organizer and beneficiary
Valerie Slagle
Organizer
San Diego, CA
Kathy Slagle
Beneficiary