Haliee O’Connor and Baby Olivia

On April 17th Ms Olivia was born, with Haliee and Olivia going home from the hospital the next day. On April 19th, Haliee started not feeling well, and felt worse on the 20th resulting in a trip to the Emergency Room. From there she was rapidly transferred to a larger hospital, and very shortly after life-flighted to the Cleveland Clinic.

Several times before, during, and after the flight, we almost lost her. She had a Strep-A infection in her bloodstream, DIC, and Toxic Shock Syndrome, desperately in need of emergency surgery to remove the source of her infection, however, her platelet count was 6, and we were forced to make a decision to let the doctors try and save her life via the surgery with the understanding that she may well have bled to death during that surgery. Following the hysterectomy, things were very touch-and-go as her body tried to fight the massive infection and shock. An experimental dialysis filter was offered to potentially help filter more toxins from her body and give her a fighting chance to beat this. We agreed to give it a try, trusting that God was making the calls anyhow.

Over the next few days, Haliee fought hard and began to make small improvements, finally waking up on the 22nd for the first time, and eventually coming off of the ventilator on the 29th.

While her body was fighting to stay alive, it focused on her brain, heart and lungs, with all other organs shutting down and blood flow to her extremities all but stopping. As a result, she is on dialysis while hoping that her kidneys regain functionality, and on medicine to keep her blood thin in hopes of saving as much of her extremities as possible, time will tell how much of them can be saved.

We waited until Haliee was able to understand the complexities of her situation, and potential outcomes, so that she could decide how much she wanted to share about her situation, and if she would be willing to ask for help. She now has that clarity, and asked that we share her story (with her reviewing each post prior to it going public) and is willing to ask for help financially.

Haliee does have medical insurance, but with a significant maximum out of pocket amount, and will undoubtedly exceed her financial capacity. Additionally, she has student loans that must be chipped away at while she heals, will need residential compatibility adjustments to enable her to come home from the hospital, and eventually similar adjustments to her vehicle based upon whatever prosthetics she may or may not be able to get to help her further down the road.

Unfortunately, she knows already that she will have legal expenses going forward, and with the medical and specifically physiological outlook, she is unlikely to be able to return to her current work duties when she is healed, and undoubtedly has a very long recovery road ahead.

We struggle to know how much help Haliee will need at this point in her journey, but are confident that God knows she is strong enough to navigate it, thus the reason that he has entrusted her with it. The thoughts and prayers are ever appreciated, and definitely working!

Thank you in advance for any help that you can give to her! God bless all of you, as he will surely continue to bless her on this journey, and us with front seat views to the miracles God is doing through this amazing medical team and Haliee’s fighting spirit.