Remembering Chris Grunenberg

We’re reaching out to you today to ask for your generosity in helping our family during this time of uncertainty and need. Chris Grunenberg is a loving father and husband who has always worked hard to help support his family and friends through tough times. He has stage IV COPD and has been looking for ways to help himself get stronger so that he can continue to be the strong and caring person he has always been.

He was told about a procedure by his doctor that would help improve his quality of life and make breathing easier, giving him more time to enjoy his family. This procedure was supposed to only be a 5-day hospital stay for monitoring.

Unfortunately, during his recovery after the procedure, he had multiple complications that threatened his life. He has now been in Duke hospital for 5 weeks, with several weeks in the medical ICU, and is still fighting for a full recovery. Chris’s left lung collapsed and had to have two chest tubes placed to help inflate the lung again. Due to his advanced COPD his lung has not been able to heal correctly and had to have the original two chest tubes removed and a different one placed. After so many weeks, of uncertainty and scares, he has finally been stabilized and is home with the chest tube still in place. The doctors are unsure if his lung will ever be the same as it was before the original procedure.

During this time Chris’s wife had to quit her job, his son, Christopher, flew out for several days, his son, Corey, had to drop two courses during his semester, and his daughter-in-law, Cherie, took multiple days off and two weeks unpaid leave from work, all to help support and coordinate Chris’s care while he was in the hospital.

Donations will go toward medical expenses, prescriptions, equipment, gas/travel expenses, and follow-up care to aid in Chris’s recovery from this traumatic and frankly exhausting experience. If you are unable to donate at this time, please share this to reach as many people as we can. We are grateful to have such an amazing support system through our friends, colleagues, and family.

Sincerely,

The Grunenberg Family