Support Jodie's recovery from a horrendous illness
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Please take a moment to read Jodie’s story. What happened to Jodie could happen to anyone. She has undergone 14 operations in recent weeks, nearly lost her life, and her doctors are still unable to explain how or why she suffered from this life-threatening illness! This “GoFundMe” page has been started on Jodie’s behalf to help support her and her young daughters through her recovery.
Jodie’s story…
On 15 August 2019, Jodie finished some gardening and was exhausted, she began to feel as though she had a migraine coming on and went to bed. Over the following 2 days Jodie began to feel much worse and thought she may have a virus. A friend called by to see her and was alarmed to see that she had a severe headache, was vomiting, barely able to walk and delirious, something was seriously wrong. Jodie was rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital Emergency Department. She was soon diagnosed with life- threatening Septicaemia. But in addition, a bruise on Jodie’s leg had caused severe swelling to her upper leg, as well as excruciating pain.
As Jodie became more unstable, she was rushed to the Operating Theatre to investigate her leg further. It was quickly established that Jodie had Necrotising Fasciitis and it was spreading by the minute. The surgeons did what they could and Jodie was sent to Intensive Care in a critical condition.
Over the following days Jodie was in and out of consciousness and also in and out of the Operating Theatre, with surgeons battling to remove more and more infected tissue and muscle from her right thigh. Jodie’s body was in Septic Shock, and she came close to dying. Her family were told on more than one occasion to prepare for the worst.
Once Jodie was more stable in Intensive Care, although still extremely unwell, the Dr's decided Jodie needed Hyperbaric Therapy and she was transferred unconscious to the Alfred Hospital, where over the week she underwent three treatments in the Hyperbaric Chamber to assist with the wound healing. After some time, and still in The Alfred Hospital Jodie stabilised enough to move out of Intensive Care, but she still underwent surgery every three days to clean the wound and get on top of other bacteria present.
Finally, she could return to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where the Plastics Team continued with surgery every three days, in preparation for the next step. Jodie then required a skin graft over her extensive deep wound, and that skin was taken from her other thigh, leaving her with two large wounds to manage. The doctors explained to Jodie that due to the depth of the wound it would be a long road to recovery, with considerable nerve damage where the infected flesh needed to be removed, but she was grateful to have her leg and the opportunity to recover. With her wounds stabilised, Jodie was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital where she slowly increased her strength and endurance despite restricted movement and pain, and learned to adjust to her new limitations.
Jodie will not be able to work for a long time and her restricted movement will make everything a challenge for the foreseeable future.
She just returned to her own home this week after two months, to her young daughters Charlotte and Madeleine, and continues to surprise the doctors with her hard work and progress, but she has a long way to go and will still need a lot of help. Jodie is a really caring person, a trained Intensive Care Nurse, previously working in various specialty care units. Now, having been on the receiving end of specialty care, this page has been created to help Jodie with her expenses so far and with her ongoing medical needs, appointments, rehab, medication and of course running a household. With no income this is a stressful time for her.
Your help will be greatly appreciated and will enable Jodie to get the support she needs for her and her young daughters during this challenging time.
Jodie’s story…
On 15 August 2019, Jodie finished some gardening and was exhausted, she began to feel as though she had a migraine coming on and went to bed. Over the following 2 days Jodie began to feel much worse and thought she may have a virus. A friend called by to see her and was alarmed to see that she had a severe headache, was vomiting, barely able to walk and delirious, something was seriously wrong. Jodie was rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital Emergency Department. She was soon diagnosed with life- threatening Septicaemia. But in addition, a bruise on Jodie’s leg had caused severe swelling to her upper leg, as well as excruciating pain.
As Jodie became more unstable, she was rushed to the Operating Theatre to investigate her leg further. It was quickly established that Jodie had Necrotising Fasciitis and it was spreading by the minute. The surgeons did what they could and Jodie was sent to Intensive Care in a critical condition.
Over the following days Jodie was in and out of consciousness and also in and out of the Operating Theatre, with surgeons battling to remove more and more infected tissue and muscle from her right thigh. Jodie’s body was in Septic Shock, and she came close to dying. Her family were told on more than one occasion to prepare for the worst.
Once Jodie was more stable in Intensive Care, although still extremely unwell, the Dr's decided Jodie needed Hyperbaric Therapy and she was transferred unconscious to the Alfred Hospital, where over the week she underwent three treatments in the Hyperbaric Chamber to assist with the wound healing. After some time, and still in The Alfred Hospital Jodie stabilised enough to move out of Intensive Care, but she still underwent surgery every three days to clean the wound and get on top of other bacteria present.
Finally, she could return to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where the Plastics Team continued with surgery every three days, in preparation for the next step. Jodie then required a skin graft over her extensive deep wound, and that skin was taken from her other thigh, leaving her with two large wounds to manage. The doctors explained to Jodie that due to the depth of the wound it would be a long road to recovery, with considerable nerve damage where the infected flesh needed to be removed, but she was grateful to have her leg and the opportunity to recover. With her wounds stabilised, Jodie was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital where she slowly increased her strength and endurance despite restricted movement and pain, and learned to adjust to her new limitations.
Jodie will not be able to work for a long time and her restricted movement will make everything a challenge for the foreseeable future.
She just returned to her own home this week after two months, to her young daughters Charlotte and Madeleine, and continues to surprise the doctors with her hard work and progress, but she has a long way to go and will still need a lot of help. Jodie is a really caring person, a trained Intensive Care Nurse, previously working in various specialty care units. Now, having been on the receiving end of specialty care, this page has been created to help Jodie with her expenses so far and with her ongoing medical needs, appointments, rehab, medication and of course running a household. With no income this is a stressful time for her.
Your help will be greatly appreciated and will enable Jodie to get the support she needs for her and her young daughters during this challenging time.
Organizer and beneficiary
Anne Pastor
Organizer
South Kingsville, VIC
Jodie Wylie
Beneficiary