Surgical expenses. Anything will help! Thank You!

This all started in the middle of March 2022 when I was first diagnosed with diverticulitis.

Diverticula are small, bulging pouches that can form in the lining of your digestive system. They are found most often in the lower part of the large intestine (colon). Diverticula are common, especially after age 40, and seldom cause problems. The presence of diverticula is known as diverticulosis. When one or more of the pouches become inflamed, and in some cases infected, that condition is known as diverticulitis. Diverticulitis can cause severe abdominal pain, fever, nausea and a marked change in your bowel habits.

In the beginning of June I had a colonoscopy to see the inside of my colon and how many diverticula I had. They found 4 diverticula and a small thinned out section.

On July 16th around 10 pm I started getting severe abdominal pain again and was hoping it was just some cramping from gas. I laid in bed for a few hours hoping it would get better and it didn’t.

At 4am I started calling co-workers to try get my shift covered so I could go to the ER. With no luck I called my boss and told her I needed to go to the ER and I tried calling people but no one had answered. We discussed a couple things then I was on my way to the ER.

After arriving at the ER at 5am the first DR I saw was not helpful at all. He only ordered an X-ray telling me I was probably just constipated and full of poop, after I had told him I was pretty sure what was going on and had had a bowel movement around 8pm the night before getting there. After the X-ray he asked me to pee in a cup and poop in a bucket, I was able to sit up long enough to pee in the cup but not the other part. For two hours I was laying in that ER in severe pain tossing and turning in the tiny little bed. The 3 times he came to check on me all he said was “you poop”… At the 7am shift change the new dr came in and came to talk to me and was very upset with the first dr. He rushed to get me an IV started and some pain meds, take labs, and rushed me to a CT Scan. When the results came in and were read they found I had a Perforated Colon, an abscess on the outer colon wall and abdominal infection. My White Blood Cell Count was through the roof. They quickly started me on IV antibiotics and contacted both Duluth hospitals radiology and surgical teams to look over the scans and see if I needed emergent surgery or if they needed to put a drain tube in. All three agreed to try the medical route before surgical route as the tear was not very large and the abscess was small. Then I was admitted into the hospital.

I met with a surgeon and at some point he will be removing the part of my colon that is causing the issues.

We have been taking it day by day because if we do the surgery too early I could end up with a colostomy bag for a few weeks because the colon can not be stitched back together if it is still inflamed.

I have been out of work for almost a week now and not sure when I will be able to return. When the surgery does happen I am looking at a 6 week recovery. Living paycheck to paycheck already there is no way we will be able to keep up on everything. So if there is anyway anyone could help it will be greatly appreciated.