Emergency Medical Expenses for Bryan Prindel

Hello, my name is Darci Gibson and I am starting a Fundraiser for our dear friend, Bryan Prindel.

He recently experienced a medical emergency that landed him in the OHSU Critical Care Unit fighting for his life. Please take the time to read the detailed description below of this very scary situation. We would greatly appreciate your help in raising funds to help Bryan and his kids with these very unexpected medical expenses that keep growing as he endures more medical complications and future brain surgery. Any donation would be so greatly appreciated!

A little about Bryan... Bryan is a loving single father of four children. Madisyn, Ashlee, Iris and Haylei. He works as a commercial plumber, loves going to the gym and enjoys hanging out with his family. He also loves spending time with close friends and taking his dogs on trail walks and dog parks.

What is supposed to be a normal appendectomy procedure, ended up putting Bryan into cardiac arrest where he lost his pulse and died for 6 minutes before being resuscitated back to life. Unfortunately, that’s not where it ends...

On the afternoon of Friday May 12, Bryan was complaining of severe abdominal pain. His pains were severe enough that he went to the emergency room at St. Vincents hospital in Oregon. There, he was given meds for pain management. After countless hours of waiting, the doctor finally did a CT scan on his abdomen where they discovered he had appendicitis. Because of insurance restrictions, Bryan could not undergo immediate surgery at St. Vincents hospital. Rather, he had to be transported to another medical facility where they could perform an appendectomy procedure.

After waiting several hours Bryan arrived at another hospital where he was diagnosed and evaluated by one of the doctors. Doctor informed him that his appendix may have ruptured on the ride there and an emergency appendectomy must be done.

Bryan was sent into the operating room at 8:15 am Saturday morning. At 8:40 am anesthesia was administered. Immediately after, his blood pressure tanked, and Bryan went into cardiac arrest. At this point Bryan had lost all vitals, no heartbeat, no breathing. The surgeon started CPR. Chest compressions were given as well as the use of a defibrillator. Finally, after 6 minutes the surgeon was able to revive him and kept him stable enough to transport him to another facility.

When Bryan coded, the doctor called his girlfriend (Josie) to inform her of the complications he underwent. He told her that Bryan had a “heart attack” and that he may have a clot in his artery, therefore Bryan needed to be transported to OHSU cathlab to undergo a coronary angioplasty procedure. Immediately, Bryan is rushed to OHSU where the cardiovascular surgeon did an emergency angioplasty procedure only to find out that there was NO clogged artery!

He is then sent to the ICU for further investigation. While in the ICU doctors discover blood and fluid filling his lungs. Bryan is now diagnosed with ARDs (Acute Respiratory Disorder). Under severe sedation, meds, and the help of the ventilator, Bryan now fights for his life.

After multiple misdiagnoses, physician errors, unequipped medical facilities, etc.. Bryan was left fighting for his life. After 24+ hours, his oxygen levels and vitals were finally improving. By Monday morning, he is taken off all sedatives and he is able to breathe 100% on his own. His doctors and nurses were amazed of his progress, but more so, they couldn’t believe he was alive.

Fast forward, Bryan is recovering at home with his family and 3 dogs. However, he is sent home with multiple fractured ribs from chest compressions and an infected thrombosed vein in his left leg caused by an unnecessary picc line insertion. Not only does he have to suffer in recovery from constant pain and trauma, Doctors at OHSU discovered a tumor in the left side of Bryan’s brain. Although it is benign, the tumor is 33.5 millimeters and is pushing against his brain stem. It has already caused Bryan to lose hearing in his left ear. If not removed soon, it will cause physical imbalance on his left side of his body, vision impairment on his left eye, and eventually loss of sensitivity to the left side of his face. Because of how large the tumor is, Bryan has to undergo a 10-hour long brain surgery procedure to have it removed in 6 to 8 months.

Bryan is left fighting an uphill battle of health complications and future brain surgery. He and his family need help with staggering medical expenses from multiple medical facilities and emergency medical procedures that didn’t resolve any of the underlined issues. Along with the overwhelming amount of medical expenses piling up, Bryan and his family will need help with the 3-4 month post recovery from brain surgery in the near future.

Thank you so much for reading Bryans story and we pray that we can earn the funds to alleviate these massive medical bills and let him focus on recovery and his future brain surgery. Every donation helps!!!

With Love,

The Gibson’s