Tony & Tammy Emergency Medical Expenses

Hi. We are Tony and Tammy Garris and we are from South Carolina. We have two amazing children and two precious grandchildren and take care of my mother as well. Tony had to have surgery on his foot on 1/24/23. We expected him to be out for about 4-6 weeks and were financially prepared to address that because we could stretch my paycheck a little to keep things above water.

Saturday morning, 2/11, he had to rush me (Tammy) to the ER where I was diagnosed with an 11 mm kidney stone. Later that week, I was told it needed to come out so I was scheduled for a medical procedure to break the stone into passable pieces. On Monday 2/20, I had surgery. It was supposed to have been a clear and simple procedure but the stone wasn’t broken down into small enough pieces and by 8 PM, I was being admitted to MUSC Florence to get the stone removed. On 2/22, the surgeon took me in to break up and remove the 7 mm fragment that had been left behind and, in the process of removing it, tore my ureter. A following procedure that night failed and they were unable to see what damage my kidney has suffered because I have a 2 cm blood clot on the kidney. While trying to let my kidney rest for a few days, the stent in my ureter shifted and I now have free fluid in my pelvis. I’ve now spent 10 days in the hospital and am awaiting a transfer to MUSC Charleston to do possibly two procedures to check the kidney and to fix the ureter. In the meantime, Tony more likely be out 6-8 weeks instead of the original 4-6 based on his most recent follow up. They are saying my kidney and ureter issues could take up to 5 weeks to heal. Charleston is 2.5 hours away and my husband will have to travel back and forth frequently, if not nightly, to take care of my mother at night. Both of us being out of work for this extended period at the same time is going to cost more than we have when adding in care expenses, travel expenses, medical expenses and just the normal every day bills that come with owning a home and keeping it running for my family and my mom.

Several folks have asked what they can do besides pray, and honestly this is our only other need right now. If you can help, we appreciate it. If not, please send prayers our way.

thank you and God bless-

Tony and Tammy Garris

UPDATE: 3/2/2023

It’s been a really bad day. I’ve not been sleeping for a while, spending many hours tossing and turning. Something is causing me to have uncontrollable jerking movements when I try to sleep. Last nights they gave me something to help me sleep at 9:30 pm and didn’t wake up until close to 4 pm today. I’m so disjointed and the pain is no better. Please pray that the jerking motions will subside and sleep will get balanced.

Since i slept all day, Tony is able to keep

his foot elevated and resting. No news on the Charleston move yet but we have been guaranteed that when a bed is available, we will be transported. Thank you to all whom have contributed financially and through prayers. - T&T