Urgent Aid for Mike Letson's Medical Journey

Hello, I'm Christi (Mobley/True) Letson from Dowagiac Michigan originally, but we have called South Carolina home for the past 13 years. Michael (Mike) Letson is my amazing husband of 21 years. Mike was diagnosed with stage 1 or 2 esophageal cancer March 2022. April 18, 2023 Mike had surgery that removed 1/2 of his esophagus and 1/3 of his stomach, the remaining stomach was then pulled up and attached to the remaining esophagus. The pathology report from the lymphnodes showed cancer in & protruding from 1 of the lymphnodes closest to the cancer mass so Mike's diagnosis was changed to stage 3. Chemo 1 day a week and radiation daily M-F for 6 weeks began in June 2022. Mike has been dealing with difficulty eating anything ever since. He was constantly retching. He v did swallow study after swallow study, had ENT exam everything and no one and nothing was found to help him. I've researched and researched any info I could find to help him. Mike weighed 340 lbs at 6'3" & was considered obese when this all began. By Sept 2023 he was half his size and had been refusing a feeding tube for fear he'd have to use it for the rest of his life. I finally had to convince him that his low energy and lethargy were from malnutrition and his organs weren't going to tolerate this much longer so a feeding tube was necessary. Oct 2023 he received a jejunal feeding tube that was placed into his small intestine. This has helped Mike maintain weight but hasn't helped him with being able to take did in by mouth. It was at the end oh 2023 that is GI Dr. told him he didn't know how to help him and he would be better off going to Mayo clinic in Florida for care. Our insurance policy only covered care received out of the state if it were an emergency. I had heard good things about the care people have received at MUSC in Charleston so Jan 2024 Mike started with a new GI Dr there. She brought a bariatric specialist in during her first EGD to see what she thought she was seeing: Mike's remaining stomach took a very sharp right angle and was twisted like a balloon animal inside. Both of these Dr's recommended we see a cardiothoracic surgeon (CTS). The CTS not only confirmed the previous findings but also found Mike's pylorus and small intestine were displaced above his diaphragm and his diaphragm was stretched open where these pass through. He recommended that surgery be done in May 2024 to relocate the pylorus and small intestine where they belong calling it a hiatal hernia repair and close the widened opening thru the diaphragm. Immediately Mike could no longer get any fluid to go down whereas at least prior he could get liquids down. 3 different GI teams looked down Mike's esophagus and at his crazy shaped remaining stomach and finally the last team placed a covered expanding stent into the right angle/twisted section of stomach. After a few days Mike was finally able to eat a little bit with very few retching episodes. We were told the stent could only stay in for 4 weeks by the CTS because it could shift or puncture the stomach wall. We were then told the GI Dr wanted it to remain in for 4 months. Mike was experiencing a strange cough that felt like he had lost the air in his lungs and it was happening when he bent over and increased in occurance while he was trying to talk. We told the CTS but were told it was likely from the stent and not to worry. It was really annoying Mike though because he couldn't get a sentence out. We wanted to take a long cruise trip so we checked with the CTS to make sure waiting 5 months to remove the stent was going to be alright and he assured us it would be so we scheduled an appt with GI for Nov 1st. He also said there were no concerns on his part about us traveling for almost a month. In the first almost 2 weeks Mike slowly tried eating a little bit and it was going down well. Small bites well chewed, was finally working! Unfortunately Mike's feeding tube stoma (hole through abdomen into small intestine) began to become irritated and inflammed and was hurting him badly. So much so, he begged me to remove the feeding tube since he could drink the mix that was going into it instead and eat some. I deflated the balloon holding it in place and pulled it out without issue Mike reported instant relief! Around Oct 1st, Mike regurgitated stomach acid into his windpipe and choked on it for hours trying to get the burning acid out of his lungs & throat. It kept happening with anything Mike tried to eat or drink. By the time we got to our final destination on Oct 12th, Sydney, Australia, Mike was malnourished and dehydrated from asperating constantly. I begged him to let me take him to the ER but the excitement of being in Sydney for the first time trumped logic. We walked a bit to get to the hop on hop off bus. We rode it around the full route because it was less taxing on Mike. Afterwards we walked about 10 min and Mike stated he couldn't go any further. We learned how to use the tram we were right next to and rode it back to our hotel. Mike tried to drink a power ade but aspirated again and I begged him to allow me to get an Uber to an emergency room. The ER took a CT and it appeared as though the stent was closed off by something on both ends. The GI Dr wanted to take a look inside and possibly remove the stent. Surgery was scheduled for the next day. The Dr was not prepared for what he found. The stent had fully opened & shifted. It had been moving around, scooping up the tissue on each end of it and piling it up closing off the opening. Mike's carbon dioxide levels kept spiking while Dr was moving the stent but shouldn't have been. Dr discovered a hole pierced through the stomach and branch of his right lung & stomach acids had been leaking into the lung. Dr immediately placed a new stent to try to seal off the hole, intended to only be in place a couple weeks to allow us to get home and get additional help. Unfortunately, Mike went straight to ICU because of the sepsis in his lung. They were keeping him on a ventilator sedated while treating him with antibiotics. Mike began coughing hard and a bunch of stomach acid came out of his lung. This caused his stats to drop dangerously low and they placed himin an induced coma and on Echmo (a machine that pulls Mike's blood out of his body from one groin, oxygenating the blood before returning it back into the other groin). This happened on Oct 16. We were supposed to fly home on Oct 15. Dr added a 2nd stent overlapping the one he placed the day before extending the length to straighten the sharp angle and cover the hole from the stomach side. Mike did well with that surgery. Dr had told me, Mike would get worse before he gets better and to prepare to stay in Sydney for a while. Mike is resting and allowing the antibiotics to hopefully clean up his upper lobe of the lung this weekend, 19th-20th, before another stent (this time in the bronchial branch) is attempted on Monday Oct 21st to seal the hole from the other side. I'm staying in accommodations provided by the hospital at a discounted rate located behind the hospital but my resources are going to run out soon. We're going to have some astronomical additional expenses from all of this when it's all said and done. Any assistance you can provide would be so appreciated. Thank you in advance. If you prefer to use venmo, you can send a gift to @Christi-Letson0831 or cash app $QueenLaChristi70 or zelle to our phone numbers.