Jeff's GoFund Me

Hi, my name is Cassy Cloutier. I am starting a GoFund Me for Jeff Addis and his family to help during this time as he wont be returning to work for an unknown amount of time due to him experiencing a quick decline in health starting on March 16th. What started as back pain quickly became more after going to the Emergency Room, Jeff was addmited that night for multiple complications. Jeff is a wonderful hard working man, he is very involved with his family and his 4 dogs at home. Jeff is going to have a hard road ahead and is needing a lot of support right now as well as his family in this very difficult time.

We are hoping for a complete recovery after they resolve the following heath issues:

He has a fistula, which is a connection between the esophagus (eat and drink) and trachea (breathe). They don’t know how he got it but it is very very rare in adults.

This allowed food and drink to go into his right lung. This caused an infection- pneumonia - in that right lung.

The pneumonia caused the pleural space (space around lung) to fill with fluid.

In the meantime, the infection spread to the entire right lung and it is not moving air at all.

They inserted a chest tube into that pleural space to drain what they can of that fluid and also test it for infection. If that fluid is infected it is very very bad. Worse than the lung.

They are going to do a bronchoscopy tomorrow where they go down the trachea into that lung and try to get the gunk out. He is concerned because the infection has formed cells like on a soccer ball (how the shapes are stitched on) and walled themselves off.

His pain is intense from the tube and from the infection and it is causing muscle spasms as well.

Because of the fistula he can’t eat or drink.

After the lung is more clear and he is more stable without needing oxygen, the gastrointestinal team will do an endoscopy down his esophagus to look at the fistula and then insert a stent to cover the opening of the fistula temporarily.

He will then be able to eat and drink.

Once that is healed and he’s stable he will go home to recover from pneumonia. He will see the cardio thoracic surgeon to schedule surgery to repair the fistula which will be at Abbott with specialists.