Medical Assistance & Steps to Recovery

This is hard and I don't know where to begin but here I go. In early Jan 2021, Noe stubbed his left big toe. We didn't notice when it happened but one day that there was dry blood on his toe. Realizing he didn't feel the injury, we knew instantly there was a circulation problem from being diabetic. He had his first surgery on 01/22/2021 to remove the gangrene that rapidly grew in his toe by amputation. Over the next 8 weeks, he was able to drop his A1C from a 12.6 to a 6.7 and lost almost 20 lbs however his toe did not get better, it did not heal. The bone was exposed and the cut did not close so more of the toe had to be removed. On 03/15/21, Noe had vascular surgery to increase the blood flow in his left leg and was sent home with an IV for antibiotics thinking he might have an infection in the bone as it was exposed. On 03/25/2021, the doctor removed more of his foot but only on the side of the big toe making his foot narrow and keeping the remaining toes! While the foot was healing, we begin planning to evaluate the right leg to prevent future problems and to correct past decisions.

Beginning of June, Noe was getting out the bed and stubbed his right toe on his scooter and the toe started to turn black. On 06/11/2021, Noe had vascular surgery on his right leg to increase the blood flow that was low but complications arose and three days later I decided to take Noe to the ER to be admitted as his toes weren't warming up. He was hospitalized with blood clots in his right calf and a 2nd vascular surgery was done to clear the veins of any blockage and dissipate the clot. Unfortunately, his toe was not improving and on 07/15/2021, his right toe was amputated. Noe had appointments every week for wound care on both feet and things seemed to progress nicely. At the end of July, Noe was experiencing some foot pain and on Mon 08/02/2021, we had a visit to his podiatrist who was slightly concerned with his right foot since it was starting to change colors. The pain intensified, toes were cooled and he spiked a fever so we had an emergency visit to his podiatrist on 08/04/2021 who sent him to follow-up with the Vascular doctor and on 08/06/2021 he was scheduled for another vascular surgery to see if the clots had returned or what was going on with his foot. They also injected dye into his chest to check his heart and lungs to be certain that no clots traveled in this region, all clear! He was admitted into the ICU that day for observation due to the line that was in his leg for the vascular surgery which they had to keep in place if they needed to go back in. 08/07/2021 the vascular doctor went in to successfully clear the clots from his foot but damage had already been done. Noe had the top half of his right foot amputated on 08/09/2021. The doctors explained to us that there was a main artery on the top of his right foot that he was not able to clean out from buildup (not from clots) however there were smaller arteries providing blood flow which meant he could heal but it would take longer than expected. During his stay from 08/06/2021 until now, his white blood counts have been 2x the levels it should be and having a constant mild fever. The hospital have run many test, even ruling out Covid, and concluded it might be topical skin bacteria. The wound care nurse notice some discharge from his foot and on 08/17/2021, Noe underwent another surgery to have the right leg cleaned out from any infection and insert antibiotic cement beads in hopes it will heal the foot from any further infection and he can start therapy into recuperating. The doctors did mention that if all else fails, he would need to amputated at the shin where the best blood flow is at and possibly a prosthetic if he wishes. As a dad with 2 teenagers, I'm 100% sure he would want to be there for all the moments to walk his kids wherever they shall go.

While Noe is at the hospital, I have been working and taking care of our 2 teen kids who have helped out tremendously. Any funds received will go towards his treatments, dr visits, therapies, mobility devices, medications and/or anything out of pocket he may need that may not be covered by his insurance. I would like to thank all of our family and friends for the love and support that has poured in. I always believed that if I could, I would help people any way I can and hope that one day, somebody will be there to help us if needed. Not many people know how to help or what needs to be done and making a donation is a way they can contribute/help Noe on his journey to recovery. Again, thank you for your time, love and support!