Ostler Family Medical

My name is Amy. My sister Colett and I are deeply concerned about our big brother Shon Ostler. Beginning in May, he was placed on medical leave due to massive swelling in his hip. At that time, it was diagnosed as bursitis. The situation quickly worsened, and by mid-June, he was unable to walk, bend, sit, drive or lift anything.

Emergency Surgery

On June 20, after seeking a second opinion, blood work showed a severe staph infection in his blood. It had created a massive abscess in his left hip and thigh. He was immediately sent to a hospital in Billings by ambulance, where they performed three emergency surgeries in the course of 1 week. The surgeons cut away a large amount of muscle, necrotic tissue and removed as much infection as possible. This surgery created two very debilitating wounds with wound vacs. He had a PICC line placed with heavy-duty antibiotics.

More Complications

At the end of July, more infections surfaced. A drain was placed. Another scan was done Mid-August, and more pockets of staph were found in his leg, necessitating more surgery. The last surgery was very intensive and required three drains and another wound vac. There will be at least one more surgery; Shon's most extensive surgery wound will not heal without a skin graft.

Future Care

At this point, Shon has been in the hospital for close to 70 days. He will require extensive physical therapy to ensure that his leg's scars don't tighten and cripple him. At this point, Shon is not cleared to go back to work until the New Year. Due to the extensive time spent in emergency care, and his inability to return to work, his medical coverage will terminate at the end of August. Shon and Kee live 2 hours from the Billings hospital, and the cost for Kee, his dear wife, to travel to and stay in Billings to be with her husband has become difficult.

Giving Hope

At this point, the path to recovery has been made clear; however:

We are asking family, friends, and others capable of giving a little help and hope to please consider donating to this cause. Shon and his wife have shown incredible strength over the long and exhausting ordeal at the hospital, and he still has a long journey to return to full health. The Ostlers are wonderful people who deserve community support, a community they have always supported. We want to see our brother healed and helped so that he can return to the job, hobbies, service, people and activities he deeply misses. The monetary donations will go toward paying for an insurance plan, medical bills, post-op recovery and some living expenses. Every gift or share helps.

Thank you, and may God bless you and your family.

Amy and Colett

Update: Shon went into surgery on Aug 29th for a skin graft. After extracting the strip of donor flesh, the surgeon discovered some blood clots in the old surgery site. As a result, additional surgery was needed to clean up the old areas. Since the donor strip was already extracted, they had to place the flesh so it wasn't wasted, but the surgeons were not sure the graft would take. Additional healing time will be needed for Shon, and his stay in the hospital will be exteneded. We have raised the goal a little to help with this. We appreciate all the love, prayers, words of support and donations that have been given. Thank you so much!