Jarrad’s Recovery

Nobody likes to ask for help and Jarrad is definitely one of those people but here we are. Jarrad has been struggling with illness now for over 3 months. He was admitted to John Hunter Hospital with a serious blood infection and kidney infection, but things quickly snowballed from bad to worse. Jarrad was so unwell he quickly became unable to walk as the infection took over his whole body and sepsis set in. 2 weeks in he then developed pneumonia as well and it was far from over. Fitted with drains in both his lungs trying to get rid of all the fluid Jarrad wasn’t improving and was moved to ICU. Behind the scenes I was still trying to work and look after the kids and drive the 45minutes to John Hunter everyday. Driving to work one day the hospital rang me to tell me Jarrad was going in to respiratory failure and they needed to put him in an induced coma and intubate him with a breathing tube immediately. I turned my car around and cried the entire way to the hospital but didn’t get to see him before they put him to sleep. Nothing prepares you for seeing your loved one on a life support ventilator. A week in ICU and Jarrad improved enough to have the breathing tube out but remained hooked up to oxygen. All while this was going on Jarrad’s diabetes caused diabetic retinopathy which is bleeding behind his eyes. It seemed never ending. Out of ICU Jarrad had to begin rehab in the hospital to start walking again but after being bed bound for so long he had lost all his muscle tone and developed nerve damage in one of his feet. Jarrad was determined though and slowly became mobile with the aid of a walker and after 2 long months was able to finally come home. But it wasn’t over unfortunately and 10 days later he was back in hospital again having 3 blood transfusions and treatment for another kidney infection. 5 days he spent in Maitland hospital but after that was back home with us again. By this time Jarrad had dropped to below 70kg but was finally starting to get his appetite back and we thought turning a corner. Wrong again and a week later I was rushing him to the hospital in the middle of night. A third hospital stay for his kidneys and home again after 5 days. Jarrad has been off work now for over 3 months and if you think that story was long sadly so is his recovery. We expected to rely on income protection insurance but sadly realised he’s not covered for it. Unable to work for many more months to come with no way of knowing how long it will take to regain his strength and for his foot to improve so he can walk unaided. All of that aside the bills haven’t stopped. I’ve been unable to keep up with enough work while caring for Jarrad and taking him to multiple appointments every week. With unpaid loans and debt collectors knocking, as well as electricity being threatened to be switched off, Jarrad’s feeling the weight of it all but I’m not giving up and so I’m asking for help. Our family cannot thank everyone enough who has supported us and continues to support us through this time. We have some amazing family and friends and appreciate every bit of help.