Ted Gerhardt Fund

My name is Heather and I am Teds daughter. My brother Thomas and I decided we wanted to make a go fund me page for our father. A lot of people don't know his story so I will fill you all in. First I just want to say that our Dad has no idea that we are doing this for him. He always was a very hard working man and very private about his life. In January there were some really scary moments with him that is really hard for me to talk about. Dad was repeating himself alot, not recognizing his surroundings and very forgetful. For those of you that know him, know that he has been a truck driver his whole life. You didn't need a GPS when you had Ted. So when he couldn't remember how to get to places or get out of places it was a red flag. Not knowing where he was in his own home, not knowing how to work his cell phone, losing his balance, asking the same question multiple times within minutes. He had went to the er in January and they ran a bunch of tests on him. All of his blood work was good, cat scan was good etc. The neurologist had come in to talk to Dad and asked him to remember 3 words and she went about doing the rest of her exam. She finished up and then asked him to repeat the 3 words. He looked at her and said "what 3 words?" She knew something was wrong so she ordered an mri stat. The results from the mri came back an he had an enlarged ventricle and a blockage where the spinal fluid goes into the brain. That had caused a build up of the spinal fluid and is called hydrocephalus. Water on the brain. He was then transported to Temple hospital and he had his first surgery to widen the ventricle so the fluid would not get blocked again. They put a drain in his head to drain the fluid and a few days later they took it out. He had an incision at the top of his head but other then that he did great! His memory was getting better and they were so confident this was going to work. A couple days later he was discharged. From then on it has been downhill. He only lasted so long before his symptoms returned and he was back in the er. This time they put a shunt in his head so again they performed another surgery by putting the shunt in his head and running the catheter through his stomach to drain the fluid. So not only did they go back in his brain in a different spot then the first but they also had to make an incision in his stomach. He did great again with surgery and we were so sure this was it, this was going to solve the problem. We could help him recover now so he can live his life again. He was discharged a few days later. He was doing very well until around day 10 like before. All of his symptoms returned again! Back to the hospital and more tests. This time they callobrated the shunt and they were sure that was the problem. Again, he was discharged doing well and about 2 weeks later every symptom was back again! This time he was taken by ambulance and they did more mri''s, cat scans, blood work etc. It just so happens that the catheter to the shunt had a blockage. Once again they had to go back in and do another surgery. This time replacing the shunt with a newer model and running the catheter through the heart instead of his stomach. It's what should have been done the first time. So Dad had to get another scan done after so they could make sure that everything looked good. The doctor comes in and tells his wife that he is going to go back in tomorrow because he doesn't think the catheter is long enough. So now that is done and they discharged him last week. So far so good! He now has three incisions to heal on his head, one on his stomach and one on his neck. He is the strongest person I have ever met and now he is really stressed and worried because he has not been working and neither can his wife because he needs to have care 24/7. They took his drivers license til he is cleared from the doctors and driving is pretty much his life! So I am asking for help for his medical bills, bills of everyday life since he can't work and neither can his wife. They would never ask for money but we just want our dad to get back on the road to recovery with less stress as possible. Any donation is not to small! If you could all please keep him and our family in your prayers, we would appreciate it. Please pray that this was the last surgery and he won't have to go through this ever again. I pray that it is now corrected and he can enjoy life again. Thank you all so much!