Help Megan Heal: Medical Expenses.

As many of you know, my sister Megan has Crohn’s Disease, diagnosed when she was 10. She did well on medications over the years. However, within the past year, and after several medication changes, it was decided that she would need surgery. Scar tissue that had formed over the years was causing partial obstructions and causing severe pain. Before she could schedule a surgery, it became an emergency. She was hospitalized over and over again as they tried to get her healthy enough for surgery. IV medications for inflammation, and even a liquid diet. September 9th, she had the first surgery, a bowel resection where they removed 6 inches of intestines, her ileum. It was to be a fairly routine surgery and everything seemed to go well. She was sent home a week later even though she was running a low grade fever. Within that first week at home we were back ER because she had fever and severe pain. They diagnosed her with a UTI due to the symptoms she was having and sent her home. No scans. Another week passed and she was still having fever and pain so we visited her Primary. They did an ultrasound of the area where the pain was at and the results showed a very large ovarian cyst. It was not an ovarian cyst. One day later we were back on ER in our hometown where they did a CT scan and found that she had two abscesses, one of which was very large. She was immediately sent to Cincinnati where she had surgery to insert a drain catheter through her abdomen to drain the large abscess. Sometime after the bowel restriction surgery she had developed a fistula/hole in her intestine which was leaking into her abdomen causing the abscess. They said the fistula was small and should heal on its own and then they could remove the drain catheter. Without going into all the details of this horrible few weeks, let’s just say the fistula did not heal and Megan experienced severe pain the entire time. She was in and out of the hospital and even had to have the drain catheter replaced with another surgery because the first one failed. Eventually it became clear the fistula was not going to heal unless they performed an ileostomy and let the colon rest and heal. This surgery was November 9th, and they also removed the drain catheter at this time. She continued to have problems including severe pain, fever and nausea. So even though they did the ileostomy, they did something called a loop and did not completely detach the colon. So bowel would still travel through the colon at times. And since she still had the fistula/hole and no drain catheter at this point, it leaked into her abdomen again. Which leads us through many ER visits and hospital stays until 2 weeks ago she had to have another surgery to revise the ileostomy and take out the loop and completely disconnect the colon. By this time she is severely under weight having lost nearly 40 lbs since July. They inserted an NG tube during the surgery so she could receive nutrition through the feeding tube. She had a bad reaction to the first formula they fed her which caused pain and nausea. So they changed the formula but gave it to her at a high speed she could not tolerate which again caused pain and nausea. And in the meantime she also developed an obstruction from swelling in her intestine from the surgery. She was hospitalized two weeks this time, and was just released. They took into consideration her mental health was suffering because of all she has been through and still going through. They decided to let her continue treatment on an outpatient basis with biweekly physical therapy, weigh ins and bloodwork. She has to let them know immediately if she feels like there may be an obstruction. If all goes well she can remain at home. It’s important that she does not lose weight. Losing weight will put her back in the hospital. She has to drink shakes like Boost for nutrition and calories 4-5 times a day as well as eat high protein and high calorie foods. This is where we are at right now.

Megan has not been able to work since July. She has used all of her FMLA and her short-term disability and no longer has an income. This is also a new year with a new insurance deductible as it started over. For example to send her home with the NG feeding tube and nutrition would have meant $1500 out of pocket and up front for her to do so. She did not come home with this but it can’t be ruled out as a possibility if she does not gain weight on her own. She will have expenses like medication and doctor visit co-pays. She has to purchase the supplemental shakes, high protein energy bars, and a protein powder that she puts in her food and shakes. All of which are expensive. She has to travel back-and-forth to Cincinnati for appointments. Having not worked for six months, she has depleted her savings. She will be off work, at least four more weeks from the surgery itself. And this will not be the last surgery. She will have a reversal surgery to reconnect the colon when it heals. Any contribution towards medical, food and gas expenses would be greatly appreciated.