Rally for Leslie's Healing Journey

On April 8th, Leslie experienced lightheadedness while at work and began vomiting blood. Leslie was taken to the ER in Marquette and admitted overnight. Hospital staff were able to stabilize Leslie overnight, and she met with the GI doctors in the morning. The plan was to have Leslie receive an upper GI scope. Unfortunately, Leslie experienced severe hemorrhaging that doctors were unable to stop. In an attempt to stop the bleeding, doctors inserted a balloon into her throat to apply pressure from the inside to stop the bleeding. This helped but required Leslie to be placed on a ventilator.

Due to Leslie’s long history of health problems, her body didn’t take well to these developments. The ventilator was unable to supply the amount of oxygen Leslie needed to support her body.

On April 10th (Leslie’s Birthday), the decision was made to airlift Leslie to Corewell Meijer Heart Center in Grand Rapids. While in Grand Rapids, doctors removed the balloon in her throat, and the bleeding has stopped. Unfortunately, the balloon has caused damage to her esophagus, which will require surgery at a later date to repair. Due to the damage, Leslie became septic and developed pneumonia from aspirating during the hemorrhaging.

Leslie hasn’t regained consciousness since April 8th. Doctors are keeping her medically paralyzed until her body can recover enough to be taken off the ventilator. Once she’s stable enough, they will perform the surgery on her esophagus. This will require disconnecting her esophagus and being placed on a feeding tube for up to a year.

We anticipate them being in Grand Rapids for the next 4-6 weeks, and then hopefully Leslie will be able to return home to continue her long recovery. Leslie is a fighter, and we pray she continues that fight and recovers from this.

The result of this trauma is life-changing for Leslie and our family. Casey and Leslie are both off of work until she can return home. But once home and fully recovered after a year, we are unsure if Leslie will be able to continue working with the families of the YMCA.

We are fundraising to support Leslie's medical expenses and long-term recovery.

This fundraiser is for Leslie, who has been through severe medical trauma and needs extensive care and support.

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