James McLaughlin & Family Support

Hi, I’m Alyssa! James’s oldest daughter. I am asking for support for my dad, step mom Cynthia and my two little sisters. Buckle up! It’s a long story but it’s important. In mid to late September, my dad was having some health concerns primarily his eyes, he thought he had finally hit the point where he couldn’t avoid cataract surgery anymore. When him and Cynthia finally visited with the ophthalmologist, the ophthalmologist gave him some discouraging news that he had severe glaucoma, and his vision was critical and he would lose vision in that eye soon. With that said, the eye doctor set him up for surgery within the next seven days. So seven days later, dad had surgery to put a stent in his eye to relieve the pressure. Within a week dad had a severe staff infection in his eye. They spent the next 1 to 2 weeks nursing his eye with medication after medication and visit after visit and nothing seem to make it better. Monday October 30th the surgeon decided to take the stent out because he believed it was inhibiting the infection from healing.

This whole time through most of October, and the end of September dad had been not feeling well. Symptoms like nausea, dizziness, exhaustion, but him, and Cynthia thought that it was coinciding with the issues with his eye. Now, fast forward to this last Thursday, November 2. Dad had what he said was the worst pain he’s ever felt in his life near that eye because of the pressure as there was no stent in there to relieve the pressure. By Friday morning him and Cynthia were on their way to the eye surgeons office again thinking that these issues of the nausea vomiting losing weight, exhausted were all stemming from the eye and the pressure. They spent the whole day Friday with the eye surgeon as he literally used a syringe needle to drain his eye multiple times to relieve the pressure. The eye surgeon and they noticed that even when the eye pressure was good, James was still exhausted, nausea, vomiting. At that point after spending 8+ hours with the eye surgeons he and Cynthia spoke and they decided to refer my dad James for hospitalization to test and hopefully discover what the real underlying issue was.

After spending approximately 10 hours at the ER, lots of blood work and testing, the doctor discovered dad has what’s called DKA. Diabetic keto acidosis. He was then admitted to the hospital. Since then the hospital has been treating him for this diagnosis, and thankfully, his eye surgeon has had a hand in the situation as well and treating him for his eye issues.

Needless to say, the situation with dad‘s health has been a big strain on the family. Cynthia has had to wear all the hats, mother, wife, and even Daughter, as she is also the primary caregiver for her mother, who is as well going through a health crisis currently. At this point what I am asking is any support you can give to my dad and his family. Obviously without dad working they’ve lost over 50% of their income and Cynthia taking care of dad and her mom has lost a good 1/4 of her income as well. My dad is currently in the hospital which is the best place for him. Thank you kindly for reading his story and helping in anyway you can.