The deLara-Wells family medical expenses

Those who know Ryan Wells know he is a pastry chef extraordinaire who takes pride in perfection. He loves making cakes for his kids and their friends' birthdays, treats for their classrooms, cooking for school camping trips, and desserts for Yulupa's Tuesday treats.

More than that, he is an adoring son to his parents, Greg and Linda and his in-laws, Carlos and Diva. He is a wonderful and loving father who goes above and beyond to put a smile on his children's faces and a husband who is the light and laughter in wife Cat's world.

Unfortunately, this great man and his family have recently faced various challenges and health complications.

On July 21st Ryan admitted himself into the ER because of severe abdominal pain and had to have emergency surgery for a strangulated ventral hernia and bowel obstruction. He underwent a laparotropy and ileostomy, then developed a pulmonary embolus and cardiopulmonary arrest, resulting in an anoxic brain injury.

He had a challenging postoperative course, including prolonged ventilator dependence. He was in intensive care for over a month, intubated and extubated three times, had a nasogastric, then gastronomy feeding tube placed, which became dislodged and created an infection that took over a week to treat. Multiple tubes were placed after infections continued to be found and treated. The last tube was pulled on August 23rd, and he was well enough to transfer out of the ICU.

At the time of discharge, he was a bit conversant, with some issues with aphasia. He is currently at a long term care facility near Marin for neurological rehabilitation and therapy as he remains weak and is unable to stand on his own.

Catherine has been there for him at every step! Most days, she travels over an hour both ways to see him and be with him as long as she can. He is often confused and needs a constant reminder of where he is, why he is there, and what happened back in July, sometimes even forgetting family members' names or his own. His physical strength is returning, but it will take a while for his memory to get there.

He will be reassessed in a few weeks to see if he can go to a skilled nursing or short-term acute care facility. The family does not know how long he will be away from home, as the neurologist says it is too early to tell. For now, the family is grateful that Ryan is doing remarkably well, considering there were times when it was unclear if he would even survive the event.

If you know the deLara-Wells family, you know that they are incredibly kind and giving, and they never hesitate to help those around them. We are asking that you hold them in your thoughts and contribute if you can to offset the unfortunate cost of lost work, travel, and medical expenses. The road to recovery will be long, and this help could give them some breathing room along the way.

Thank you!