Help for Heather Pate

Heather went into the ER with a fever & trouble walking on June 10 th.  We had to drop her off and were not allowed to stay due to covid restrictions , it wasn’t until 10 days later & heather being  intubated and having 2 blood transfusions that I was able to see her face to face inside The ICU .  Heather spent 46 days inside the ICU AND coded 1 time with the no oxygen to her brain for 7 minutes , she contracted staph , Ecoli , & single then double pneumonia all whine in the hospital.  

She was intubated a total of 3 times & then the fourth time due to pneumonia complications & neurological issues she had surgery to install a tracheotomy & feeding tube into her stomach.  

She was then transferred to a long term specialty care facility with BJC doctors & spent 3 weeks learning how to breath and swallow without machines & is now in a long term neurological skilled nursing rehab facility for a minimum
Of 8-10 weeks depending on her progress , she needs to learn how to walk , & use her hands along with simple tasks like eating & cleaning herself.  

We have A very long road ahead .  Insurance is already pushing to get her on home care ASAP & have family pay out of pocket.

This is a marathon not a sprint.  It is very probable that it will be next year before heather can physically stay home alone for any significant amount of time.
20 years married 23 years together. Spent our 20 year anniversary inside the ICU. 7/21/20.  


2 kids. 19 & 15 one going to college as a freshman & one going into highschool as a freshmen.