Help for Larry Boyle

It’s hard to ask for help even when family and friends say, “let us know if you need anything.” Well, Larry needs our help. At 51 he went in for his first colonoscopy healthy and with absolutely no symptoms—just the “you’re at that age” type of thing to have done. Well, they found a mass that had to be removed so the game plan was made and Larry and Wendy prepared for that. Surgery was supposed to leave him in the hospital for 3-5 days and required taking a month off work while he healed. Wendy took two weeks off to be there for him during that time and for the first week he was supposed to be home. In early September his surgeon removed the cancerous mass and signs were great that it had not spread in his colon or into his lymph nodes so further treatment was not needed. He just had to heal. That’s when he started to go downhill. He had a lot of discomfort and wasn’t snapping back like they expected him to do. They released him after seven days but he returned to the ER two days later with fever and chills. He was readmitted and put on antibiotics to treat an infection. Scans showed an abscess near his spleen so a drain was placed and he was put on IV antibiotics. After four more days of not responding favorably the surgeon was baffled as to what was going on because his symptoms were not adding up. The decision was made to go back in surgically to figure it out. The surgeon opened him more extensively than he anticipated and said it “was a real mess” inside. He had two perforations in his bowels far apart from each other that needed to be repaired and, to ensure healing, the surgeon placed a temporary ileostomy for his colon to heal. He will need this for at least three months before it can be surgically reversed. That was done on the 19th and will require another week or two in the hospital before he can go home. We are not sure when he will be cleared to return to work. Wendy has been by his side through it all and has exhausted all her paid time off to be there for him on this journey. It’s been hard for her and the kids but they are hanging in there and we are doing what we can to help out. They will be spending their 23rd wedding anniversary in the hospital this year.

Larry has a long battle ahead to heal and it would really take a load off if he and Wendy didn’t have to worry how they were going to pay their bills. Insurance will help with the medical bills but it’s the day-to-day stuff like groceries, gas, mortgage, utilities, etc. that will add up as short-term disability and a temporary loss of Wendy’s income won’t cover. This added stress isn’t what Larry needs so if we can help then he can focus on getting stronger, healing and returning to the lovable, silly, dorky, dad-joke telling husband, dad, son, brother, uncle/gruncle, cousin, coworker, friend, UPS driver that we all know and love. I know not everyone is in a place where they can help monetarily but help if you can. And please, keep him, Wendy, Connor, Quinn, Cooper and Casey in your prayers as he works to get his strength back and get on the road to recovery.