Hospital Expenses

This is my mom, Janis Millican. 

She’s a wife, mom, grandmother, teacher, and the sweetest woman in the world. 

One week after her first grandson was born she was diagnosed with Covid-19 and hospitalized for 9 days at Magnolia Hospital after a week of not being able to eat, drink, or swallow. Her lungs were clear so she was finally released home on oxygen to her husband of 35 years! We thought things were much better. She had a follow up appointment with her doctor, which revealed she still has symptoms of covid 19 and was still until to eat or drink and having difficulty breathing. 

At the appointment, she was told that she was so backed up with stool that she would be unable to eat or drink, because there would be no where for it to go and told to drink a whole bottle of magnesium citrate with no results. A tap water enema also showed no results. Mom went to the ER where she was admitted again for possible bowel obstruction. X-rays, CTs, and an MRI showed all to be clear. They did a colonoscopy and endoscopy, both clear. They finally placed and NG tube and administered miralax. Finally, results! 

After being NPO for approximately a week, she was placed on a clear liquid diet and began to try to drink again. Mom was unable to swallow still and was vomiting with every sip of water. She complained of numbness around her mouth, her lips, and her throat. Doctors thought it could be the back up phylum in her thought and did a deep suction. She was placed on updrafts to break the mucous up, but made her jittery and also made her vomit. Zofran wasn’t helping. And was finally given phenergan, stopped vomiting and got some rest.

After 2 days, mom’s oxygen level dropped again, she was placed on an oxygen mask and a heart monitor for precautions. She was stable. The next day she went into respiratory distress and placed on a ventilator in ICU! Her lungs started improving immediately and her oxygen levels came up. After 3 days in the vent, all of her vitals were stable. 

Mom was brought out of sedation to visit with family and was able to respond to yes and no questions! She had full motor function. Her lungs were clear, she was covid free. She was out breathing the vent, it was turned down from 100% to 65% then 35%. She was still breathing perfectly. Doctors said she was a perfect candidate to extubate. 

After extubation her sats began to drop and they asked mom to try to cough up balmy mucous in her throat. She was too weak! Deep suction was preformed but she had to be intubated again. After getting rest, she was brought out of sedation with the same results! She could communicate with head nods and hand had full motor function.  No one knew what the cause.

Finally, a scope was ordered for her trachea which showed her trachea to be collapsing around the vent tube with every breath! Magnolia Hospital could no longer help her and we began looking for ICU rooms. Mom was airlifted to Baptist in Little Rock on Sunday 11/1 night for possible stint placement or a tracheotomy. Last night, the doctor decided that all her numbers were still perfect, and attempted extubation again. Mom crashed and had to be coded with CPR for 35 minutes before regaining her pulseand sent to CCU to cool down. We were told that she has brain function and had a CT, but we’re still waiting results to see the extent of the damage from coding. 

My dad is retired and mom has no disability. Their insurance is $950 a month!! Mom has been in the hospital for over a month. And will loose her insurance at the end of November. Dad has been by her side everyday until she was moved to Baptist and can’t have visitors! If you can’t donate, please pray! She’s only met her new grandson once and he needs his grandma in his life! We all need her! She’s our rock! Thank you so much!