Loving Wife Needs Your Help- Unforeseen Setback

My name is Stacy Bowen and I have created this GoFundMe on behalf of my husband, Booker Bowen III.

Booker was forced to medically retire 5 years ago, at the age of 45, due to a chronic kidney disease, polycystic kidneys. The chronic disease eventually caused kidney failure thus resulting in him going on regular dialysis at the age of 49. He is currently on the kidney transplant list and thankfully to regular dialysis he is able to have enough strength to get a part time job. This job allows him to supplement his meager retirement income to help take care of expenses and support our household.

This all changed suddenly a couple weeks ago when he wasn’t able to keep down any food or liquid and could barely walk. After a trip to ER, CT scans showed that he needed immediate surgery to correct a hernia so large that is caused bowel obstruction. Initially, we were told that surgery would last about an hour and and he’d be able to return to work the next day. However, once the surgery began the surgeon quickly realized the hernia was strangulated, life-threatening if not treated, and bigger and more invasive than the X-rays revealed. The 1 hour surgery turned into a long and grueling 5 1/2 hours due to the unexpected complications.

Because of the unplanned longer surgery, Booker was unable to come out of anesthesia as planned and was intubated overnight and sent to ICU where he would spend 5 days in recovery. After 6 days in the hospital, he was released with so many restrictions and unable to return to work for 6-8 weeks, this was obviously not our plan.

Since released from the hospital, he is unable to do anything without assistance including: walk, bathe, get in and out of bed, climb stars (we live in an upstairs apartment), drive (he takes regular dialysis) or prepare his own meals on his own. Now, as his wife I am undoubtedly charged with the loving tasks of caring for him in sickness and health and have had to take a leave from work through FMLA to help take care of my husband for the next 6-8 weeks.

Now that both my husband and myself are unable to work we find ourselves facing extreme hardship and are now struggling to meet our basic needs such as rent for November and December, food, utilities, and gas for medical appointments. We have exhausted any and all options for state funded disability and any additional resources available to us and are grateful for any assistance or help you can provide. We appreciate your continued prayers for our family and welcome your love and support during this difficult time.