Joe Gee's Medical Fund
Donation protected
Hi, my name is Cindie Gee and my husband is Joe Gee. Joe is currently a patient at the University of Utah Hospital Burn Center and I am reaching out to ask for help to make sure he continues to get the care he needs and can focus on healing without the burden of worrying about the cost of his care and his family, because for Joe, his family is always his first care. Any donation, $5, $10... would be a blessing. Our main goal is to cover the costs to pay his employer the insurance premiums, that is our #1 priority. If we can raise that our next goal is to help towards the medical bills. According to the hospitals My Chart listing of charges for his emergency room visit and emergency surgery the first night, not counting the physicians fees they will be billing our insurance almost $500,000.00. I know that will be greatly reduced but we have a deductible and 20% coinsurance. As of 11/15 he has had 7 additional surgeries and remains hospitalized but will be transferred to a skilled nursing facility. He was in ICU over 7 weeks. I cannot imagine what the total bill will be. He will have months of follow up care, physical therapy and additional surgeries and it will be quite some time before he will be able to return to work.
I have been told this is way to long but for those if you who want to know, here is his story...
Joe had been having some flu like symptoms and was feeling weak, after a few days he finally agreed to see the Dr, I spoke with his Dr regarding my concerns and he had his nurse work him in as the first patient on the 23rd. At this appointment Joe was diagnosed with having a Colorectal Abscess that would need surgery and set him with an appointment to meet with a surgeon the following day. Joe began to really go down hill from there. He still had not had a fever, just weakness and diarrhea. We arrived at the surgeons office and the surgeon took one look and called me over. He said this is bad. He needs to be in surgery immediately. What I saw shocked me, it was not there that morning, the surgeon diagnosed him with Fournier's Gangrene. He had horrible brownish spots. The Dr recommended I send him to the Emergency Room and recommended a hospital he thought our insurance covered. I decided he needed to go to the University Hospital not only do I have faith in the staff, it was closer and I sensed a real urgency. GANGRENE? How was that possible? My head was spinning as I rushed Joe to the Emergency Room. I mentioned Fournier's Gangrene and they rushed him back to a room. Medical staff appeared immediately, they hooked him up with multiple IV's, took blood samples, ran through a few questions and the took a look. My shock grew as the brownish spots were now black, it had only been an hour and the change was drastic. They told me a team of surgeons from the Burn Unit were on their way down and would be taking over his care. The Burn Unit? Dr Katz from the Burn Unit asked me a few more questions and then Dr Lewis came in and they explained what was going on. Joe had what was in essence a form of what is often referred to as "flesh eating bacteria" and he was extremely ill. It was killing his tissue and they had to get in and surgically remove it all they had to try to get control of the infection and keep it from spreading, all infected area would have to be removed. They explained this is an often fatal illness and there was a good chance he would not survive the surgery. I could not believe what I was hearing, he could DIE? They said they wanted to get a CT scan to try and determine the depth of the infection. Joe was so calm and strong, I tried so hard to be, I made him promise he would fight with every inch of his being to come back to me. He told me not to worry, he would be fine but he promised. A few minutes later they came in and told me they were not going to be able to do the CT scan, he was in renal failure the scan would kill him. They had to take him immediately to surgery to try to save him. I prayed harder than I have ever prayed in my life. My daughter had met us at the ER and some of my family rushed up and sat with us through the surgery. After what seemed like an eternity yet didn't seem like long enough to save him, Dr Lewis came out and sat down with us. I was so afraid of what she would say. She told us he survived the surgery but it was still touch and go, we could still lose him. She explained the infection had begun deep in the fascia, the layer (in my understanding) connecting the skin to the muscles and had been spreading before manifesting itself on the surface of his skin. It was deep and it was widespread and they had not been able to remove all of it because he was to sick. This was September 24th, the day I will always remember as the day the unimaginable happened. It took another 3 hours before I was able to see him. I was stunned when I walked into his room. He was on a ventilator and I counted 16 different bags of fluids, medications and blood all being fed into him through his multiple IV's. He was cocooned from the top of his head down in warmed blankets but his eyes were open and he nodded his head when I spoke to him, he was alive and I was so very thankful for that miracle and the amazing team of surgeons who had worked so hard to keep him that way.
Since that day he has had multiple surgeries for "debridement" removing the necrotic tissue and any signs of infection. His wound has grown since that first night and they had to do a colostomy to divert his bowels away from the wound. He has another tentatively scheduled for Thursday to clean the wound up a bit. He has a very long, long road ahead of him. Originally it was estimated he would be in the Burn Unit ICU for 8 to 10 weeks and would need and estimated 20 surgeries before he would probably be sent to a rehab facility for follow up care while his body heals. He will need some major reconstruction surgery as well as many skin grafts. Blessedly his renal function improved slowly as the infection faded and he has returned to normal function. No dialysis was needed. He is working extremely hard to get better but no amount of physical therapy and determination will make his wound heal faster. It just takes time. Dr Morris who took over his care after the first surgery as the attending physicians have 2 week rotations and that was Dr Lewis last night of rotation, has tentatively said it would be a minimum of 1 month after his release from the hospital before he will be able to return to work at reduced hours and workload.
In the week that followed I met with human resource reps from his work and mine and submitted form for FMLA so our jobs are protected, I have had to miss a lot of work as well. Our insurance pays 80% of the bills and I expect these to be tremendous with the amount of time, surgeries and the level of care he is receiving. I have been told our final costs will be determined by if each of the specialists are "in network" or not, with so many specialists and surgeries needed, it is impossible to determine what we will be paying at this time, our deductible is $10,000. Although I know we are going to have a mound of debt at the end of this and it is concerning, my major concerns are dealing with what we do know we have. We are trying to raise funds first and foremost is to cover the bi weekly payments we have to make to his employer to cover his insurance premiums. I am basing my estimates on 4 months off of full time work, this may be a little a little short, it is to hard to determine exactly how his wound will heal.
4 Months
Bi-Weekly Insurance Premiums $2,600.00
Gas to travel back and forth est. $1,350.00
Other misc. related charges $2,800.00
Out of Network Deductible $10,000.00
*These do not include our regular expenses that without him working will be impossible to meet.
If we do manage to reach our goal and the funds are actually enough to cover everything, highly unlikely, any additional we raise will be used to purchase materials to make quilts to donate to the Burn Unit or purchase additional items that are needed by the Burn Unit. This is an amazing group of people and I fully owe them for saving my husbands life. I will be eternally thankful for the wonderful care they have given us. If there is any place you have to spend months of your life confined to a bed, this is where you want it to be. I hope to be able to make quilts and do anything else I can to support the Unit for as long as I live, it is the least I can do.
We would both be so very grateful for any assistance you would be willing to provide no matter how large or small. If you are uncomfortable donating this way, you can contact The University Hospital and ask to make a donation to his account under Joseph P. Gee.
I have been told this is way to long but for those if you who want to know, here is his story...
Joe had been having some flu like symptoms and was feeling weak, after a few days he finally agreed to see the Dr, I spoke with his Dr regarding my concerns and he had his nurse work him in as the first patient on the 23rd. At this appointment Joe was diagnosed with having a Colorectal Abscess that would need surgery and set him with an appointment to meet with a surgeon the following day. Joe began to really go down hill from there. He still had not had a fever, just weakness and diarrhea. We arrived at the surgeons office and the surgeon took one look and called me over. He said this is bad. He needs to be in surgery immediately. What I saw shocked me, it was not there that morning, the surgeon diagnosed him with Fournier's Gangrene. He had horrible brownish spots. The Dr recommended I send him to the Emergency Room and recommended a hospital he thought our insurance covered. I decided he needed to go to the University Hospital not only do I have faith in the staff, it was closer and I sensed a real urgency. GANGRENE? How was that possible? My head was spinning as I rushed Joe to the Emergency Room. I mentioned Fournier's Gangrene and they rushed him back to a room. Medical staff appeared immediately, they hooked him up with multiple IV's, took blood samples, ran through a few questions and the took a look. My shock grew as the brownish spots were now black, it had only been an hour and the change was drastic. They told me a team of surgeons from the Burn Unit were on their way down and would be taking over his care. The Burn Unit? Dr Katz from the Burn Unit asked me a few more questions and then Dr Lewis came in and they explained what was going on. Joe had what was in essence a form of what is often referred to as "flesh eating bacteria" and he was extremely ill. It was killing his tissue and they had to get in and surgically remove it all they had to try to get control of the infection and keep it from spreading, all infected area would have to be removed. They explained this is an often fatal illness and there was a good chance he would not survive the surgery. I could not believe what I was hearing, he could DIE? They said they wanted to get a CT scan to try and determine the depth of the infection. Joe was so calm and strong, I tried so hard to be, I made him promise he would fight with every inch of his being to come back to me. He told me not to worry, he would be fine but he promised. A few minutes later they came in and told me they were not going to be able to do the CT scan, he was in renal failure the scan would kill him. They had to take him immediately to surgery to try to save him. I prayed harder than I have ever prayed in my life. My daughter had met us at the ER and some of my family rushed up and sat with us through the surgery. After what seemed like an eternity yet didn't seem like long enough to save him, Dr Lewis came out and sat down with us. I was so afraid of what she would say. She told us he survived the surgery but it was still touch and go, we could still lose him. She explained the infection had begun deep in the fascia, the layer (in my understanding) connecting the skin to the muscles and had been spreading before manifesting itself on the surface of his skin. It was deep and it was widespread and they had not been able to remove all of it because he was to sick. This was September 24th, the day I will always remember as the day the unimaginable happened. It took another 3 hours before I was able to see him. I was stunned when I walked into his room. He was on a ventilator and I counted 16 different bags of fluids, medications and blood all being fed into him through his multiple IV's. He was cocooned from the top of his head down in warmed blankets but his eyes were open and he nodded his head when I spoke to him, he was alive and I was so very thankful for that miracle and the amazing team of surgeons who had worked so hard to keep him that way.
Since that day he has had multiple surgeries for "debridement" removing the necrotic tissue and any signs of infection. His wound has grown since that first night and they had to do a colostomy to divert his bowels away from the wound. He has another tentatively scheduled for Thursday to clean the wound up a bit. He has a very long, long road ahead of him. Originally it was estimated he would be in the Burn Unit ICU for 8 to 10 weeks and would need and estimated 20 surgeries before he would probably be sent to a rehab facility for follow up care while his body heals. He will need some major reconstruction surgery as well as many skin grafts. Blessedly his renal function improved slowly as the infection faded and he has returned to normal function. No dialysis was needed. He is working extremely hard to get better but no amount of physical therapy and determination will make his wound heal faster. It just takes time. Dr Morris who took over his care after the first surgery as the attending physicians have 2 week rotations and that was Dr Lewis last night of rotation, has tentatively said it would be a minimum of 1 month after his release from the hospital before he will be able to return to work at reduced hours and workload.
In the week that followed I met with human resource reps from his work and mine and submitted form for FMLA so our jobs are protected, I have had to miss a lot of work as well. Our insurance pays 80% of the bills and I expect these to be tremendous with the amount of time, surgeries and the level of care he is receiving. I have been told our final costs will be determined by if each of the specialists are "in network" or not, with so many specialists and surgeries needed, it is impossible to determine what we will be paying at this time, our deductible is $10,000. Although I know we are going to have a mound of debt at the end of this and it is concerning, my major concerns are dealing with what we do know we have. We are trying to raise funds first and foremost is to cover the bi weekly payments we have to make to his employer to cover his insurance premiums. I am basing my estimates on 4 months off of full time work, this may be a little a little short, it is to hard to determine exactly how his wound will heal.
4 Months
Bi-Weekly Insurance Premiums $2,600.00
Gas to travel back and forth est. $1,350.00
Other misc. related charges $2,800.00
Out of Network Deductible $10,000.00
*These do not include our regular expenses that without him working will be impossible to meet.
If we do manage to reach our goal and the funds are actually enough to cover everything, highly unlikely, any additional we raise will be used to purchase materials to make quilts to donate to the Burn Unit or purchase additional items that are needed by the Burn Unit. This is an amazing group of people and I fully owe them for saving my husbands life. I will be eternally thankful for the wonderful care they have given us. If there is any place you have to spend months of your life confined to a bed, this is where you want it to be. I hope to be able to make quilts and do anything else I can to support the Unit for as long as I live, it is the least I can do.
We would both be so very grateful for any assistance you would be willing to provide no matter how large or small. If you are uncomfortable donating this way, you can contact The University Hospital and ask to make a donation to his account under Joseph P. Gee.
Organizer
Cindie Taylor Gee
Organizer
West Valley City, UT