Bring Sandy Home

On March 29th our parents Sandy and Rod were traveling from vacationing with two daughters in Florida to spend the weekend with another daughter on vacation in Tennessee. On that trip Sandy went into respiratory distress where she was struggling to breath. Rod, being the planner that he is, carried a little oxygen tank for this unlikely scenario. He said, "Once you put that on you know you are going to the emergency room." My parents made it to Tennessee. She was admitted to the hospital that night. And Tennessee became Rod's home for the next several weeks. She was stable for a few days, but her doctor made it clear, "She is headed for a storm." And a storm she hit. She was put on a ventilator and sedated. This is a machine that breathes for her. She was diagnosed with ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome). This is a serious diagnosis with a mortality rate of approximately 40%. Sandy has had this two other times in her life and has survived only by the grace of God. 

Sandy has been on the vent for 14 days. During these two weeks we were unsure of her survival. One day there would be hope and the next day the hope was stolen. Her kidneys began to fail.  We waited. We prayed. And then things began to take a turn for the better. She is slowly breathing better and her kidneys are slowly starting to work again.  As of Tuesday April 17th she had a tracheostomy put in for possible long-term vent care. The trach allows for the possibility of Sandy to be moved closer to home. It would allow Rod to come closer to home. She would have to be moved to Evansville, Indiana - only an hour away from home! 

It looks like Sandy will survive this again! But it will likely be a very long recovery with no way of knowing how long or what kind of care she will need. We want to bring Sandy to Evansville to finish her recovery. This will allow for visitors and for Rod to have a place to stay when he isn't allowed to crawl in bed with his wife. It will cost around $5000 to move our mom via airplane and ambulance from hospital to hospital. The extra $1000 is to cover other cost associated with the move and this site. If there is any money left over then all money will be donate to the Fellowship Center - a place adjacent to the hospital that has been taking care of Rod. Our Daddy has been able to stay in an apartment for no cost and several meals a week are cooked for him. We want to pour back into this and hopefully bless others. 

God has been so good to us in all of this. We praise God for his perfect will, for his love, and for his provisions. Thank you for helping us bring Mommy closer to home.