Supporting Alicia’s Major Surgery

I have set up this GoFund Me on behalf of Alicia Stockley, to show her and her family that our amazing community is behind her 100% while she battles with a very scary medical journey.

Alicia had blood clots in both of her lungs last spring, which were unfortunately undiagnosed and left untreated for days. The clots were only caught accidentally, for which we are grateful but as a result, there is severe, life threatening damage to both lungs and possibly her heart. The diagnosis Alicia recently received was either CTEPH (Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension) or CTED (Chronic Thromboembolic Disease). CTED will eventually lead to CTEPH and the treatment is the same for both.

Alicia’s life has been put on hold due to complications of the clots. She was unable to continue her studies at SFU and consequently lost her $40,000 scholarship. She is now waiting to find out if she is a candidate for a highly specialized surgery that could not only save her life, but the surgery could be a cure for her condition. The surgery is called PTE (pulmonary thromboendarterectomy) and Toronto General Hospital is one of only 10 centres in the entire world that are qualified to do the surgery. This means that Alicia, Nicole, Chris, Rebecca and Alexandra are anticipating needing to travel together to Ontario for the surgery. The recovery is long and hard due complexity of the surgery (there is a better description of the exact procedure below, as a warning, it is very descriptive) and the length of their stay is unknown as it will depend on Alicia’s recovery and ability to fly home.

There is coverage for her flight to Toronto. Accommodation, food, etc will all be out of pocket for the duration of their time in Ontario. The last thing Alicia and her family should have to worry about is the financial impact due to illness; they should only have to focus on supporting Alicia and being together as a family.

Now for those who want to know more about Pulmonary Thromboendarterectomy (PTE), here are the more technical details. This is from a patient information pamphlet from a centre in the US:

Your doctor will:

Access your lungs by a cut through your breastbone (sternum)

Stop your heart for a short time - your body will be connected to a heart-lung machine which will take over the work of your heart and lungs

Your body will be cooled to 18- 20 degrees Celcius

The blood will be drained from your lungs and heart

The heart lung machine will be stopped for a period of up to 20 minutes

The surgeon will open your pulmonary arteries - one at a time

The surgeon will carefully clean out the blood clots and scar tissue from your pulmonary arteries

Your body temperature will be warmed to 37 degrees

Your heart will start again

The surgeon will close your chest using wires to hold your breastbone together and dissolvable stitches on your skin.

The surgery can take form 6-14 hours to complete.

After your pulmonary endarterectomy, you’ll spend a few days in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). You will be connected to machines to assess your heart, blood pressure, body temperature and breathing. You will be intubated and will be given a whiteboard to communicate

When you’re ready to leave the ICU, you’ll go to the cardiac ward for another few days.

Your medical team will help you with some of the physical aspects of your recovery, including:

Breathing exercises – you’ll be shown breathing exercises and coughing techniques that don’t harm your recovery

Mobility – it will take 6-8 weeks for your breastbone to heal, and your nurse will show you the safest ways to lift and move your body, including rolling and sitting in bed

Physiotherapy routine – you can start to work on your activity levels while still in hospital.