Brad Gunderson Fundraiser

Hi, my name is Jami Hendrickson and I’m fundraising on behalf of Brad Gunderson and his family. My husband, Rich, and Nancy are siblings.

On December 27th, Brad woke up severely sick and really confused. Nancy called the ambulance and they brought him to Essentia Health in Fosston. Nancy and Ashley were in Fosston at the hospital when Essentia made the decision to send him to Fargo via ambulance. Ashley, Dave, and Nancy drove behind the ambulance while Andy and Megan drove up from their home at Lake Lillian. When he got to Fargo, he was too unstable to do a lot of testing so they started him on strong IV antibiotics. They were able to tell Nancy and her family that he was severely septic from an infection in the body and that his lungs, liver, and kidneys were taking it the worst. They also told Nancy that he had a UTI, bacterial staph infection in the blood, and a GI bleed. His breathing was too unstable for him to undergo anesthesia to do further testing so they focused on antibiotics and trying to get him to rest/sleep but that's been pretty difficult for him as well.

A week after Brad was admitted, Tuesday, January 3rd, the doctors said his lungs were stable enough to undergo a scope to check out the GI bleed and to check if the staph infection affected his heart. It was determined that he has gastritis with pre-ulcers, kidney stones, and the bacterial staph infection had affected his mechanical heart valve and the lining of his heart (endocarditis). Brad has been down a tough road in the past, being what multiple physicians have told the family he's a miracle not once but twice. In 2011 he suffered his first extensive aortic dissection and again in 2018. Since 2018 he has been involved with two research studies at the Mayo Clinic. His aortic dissection required parts that weren't even made in the United States but Brad needed those to be given a chance at survival. At the time Brad's family was informed he was one of approximately 300 people to have this procedure done by one of Mayo's physicians and only 5 physicians in the country could perform this specific surgery. Among these procedures, he has had 4 heart surgeries, placement of a prosthetic mechanical heart valve, emergency spinal surgery, and surgery to fix a abdominal aneurysm. Spinal surgery resulted in temporary paralysis and caused ongoing mobility issues.

Brad is currently needing surgery to replace his prosthetic heart valve with a cardiac specialist. Essentia Health in Fargo has reached out to higher level of care hospitals in the tri-state area but unfortunately there are no beds available. Brad has been placed on a waiting list at Mayo where they are familiar with his specialized medical history. We have been informed it will be approximately a week-long wait for a bed to open up. Besides all of this, Brad is also fighting leukemia and has been on chemotherapy since August.

We do not know how long Brad will be in the hospital but he still has a long road to recovery.

All funds collected will go towards the Gunderson family to help with medical expenses as they have been by his side this whole time.

There is also an account at Security State Bank in Oklee created in Brad's behalf.

Donations may be sent to:

Security State Bank in Oklee

C/O Brad Gunderson Benefit Account

201 Main Street

Oklee, MN 56742

Thank you on behalf of the Gunderson family.