Reposted from: http://dritup.com/2010/06/23/jen-is-in-the-hospital/#more-1256

Wednesday, 23 June 2010, 18:55 | Category : Uncategorized 
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This post is not for the faint of heart. There are disturbing images. I am warning you now. If you don’t want to see the images, or just don’t care why she needs help, and want to help… Donate by clicking the button…

 

This page would be viewable to regular readers, if I had any. I don’t… so if anyone accidentally runs into this post, I apologize. I have not worked on this site in forever, and am just using it right now as a vehicle for a friend in need.

On May 5th Jen had surgery on her knee, an Arthrosurface HemiCAP implant. You can read more about the procedure at www.arthrosurface.com (I can’t get the link to work, sorry).

While the surgery seemingly went well, her wound didn’t heal.

Recovery was supposed to take about ten days and Jen was expected to be back at work on or around the 17th.

During this time her employer kept trying to confirm that Jen was, in fact, going to be ready for work on the 17th. She kept saying that she couldn’t guarantee it because of the physical setbacks.

On the 16th she ended up in the Emergency Room with excruciating pain, and her return to work was delayed.

Physical therapy started soon thereafter.

On the 17th, I think the second time the bandages were taken off, they found this:

Thank God Jen had taken a picture with her phone. The Dr. immediately scheduled an appointment with a plastic surgeon the next morning. They were going to see her at 8:30.

Jen got home and posted the photo on Facebook. Her friend Tim, who was in London, England at the time, saw the posting. He called her within 30 minutes of her posting and told her that she HAD to call an open would specialist he knew.

Jen got off the phone with Tim, and realized she didn’t have the Dr.’s number, so she emailed him a note with the photo. He called her within 60 seconds, and told her to report to emergency at Good Samaritan Hospital the very next morning.

The skin was dead and dying around the wound and obviously, the incisions were not healing. Jen went into surgery on the 19th (two days later) to cut all of the bad stuff away, and attempt to start the healing process. This is what it looked like after the first surgery, on Sunday the 20th.

They let her rest for a day, and she went into surgery AGAIN June 22nd, and she is scheduled for another surgery on the 25th.

The point of this post is

TO INCITE A CALL TO ACTION!

JEN HAS A NEW JOB LINED UP FOR WHENEVER SHE CAN GET BACK TO WORK, BUT SHE HASN’T WORKED IN SIX WEEKS AND PROBABLY HAS TWO TO FOUR MORE WEEKS TO GO BEFORE SHE CAN ACTUALLY MOVE AROUND. SHE IS BROKE, AND SITTING IN A HOSPITAL BED WORRIED THAT WHEN SHE GETS OUT OF THE HOSPITAL SHE WILL BE EVICTED. SHE DOESN’T HAVE MONEY FOR RENT, FOOD, STORAGE, CAR, ELECTRIC…. THE BASIC NECESSITIES.

This was not Jen’s idea, but mine. You see, I would give Jen the shirt off my back, but I don’t have what she needs… which is money. This is not a loan, it’s a gift. Feel free to donate anonymously, or shout out in the comments below at what you contributed. The amount doesn’t matter, because the situation is pretty damned bleak. Even $25 from 32 people would be close to paying her rent.

I am not asking you to do something I wouldn’t. A friend and I split her cell phone bill ($160 each), enough to keep it running into July, but it’s still behind in payments.

I will continue to post photos and stories of her recovery; and copies of receipts so you know where the money went. THIS ISN’T ABOUT GREED, IT’S ABOUT TRUE NEED. I will close the PayPal donation account down when she is covered. I think we are looking at about $5,000 - $6,000…. But certainly she needs $1000 in the next week for her rent.

Give what you can, even if it’s only words of encouragement.

Please help.

 

June 25th, 2010

I went to visit Jen tonight in the hospital tonight. Thank you God. You put her in a hospital right down the street from me, at Good Samaritan on McDowell and 12th Street. She has had two surgeries in the last 3 days.

The first surgery sounds like a complicated ACL surgery where they took part of her calf muscle and stretched it like a tendon to the other side. I am not a doctor, and I don’t get to talk to them, so I am hearing this third hand through a friend that spoke with her parents, and Jen. Apparently the doctors were very pleased at that surgery, and it’s always nice when the doctors are pleased with their work. Unfortunately, all I could see tonight is a line of stitches from the top of her calf muscle to the bottom, and a clear plastic drain tube running out the bottom of it.

The second surgery was today, and while I didn’t think she would want a visitor, she asked me to come over.

Again, graphic photos are coming so I am warning you.

Today’s surgery was for the skin graft. I had skin grafts when I was a kid, but the depth of the injury was, thankfully, millimeters. Jens tissue need, on the other hand, is fairly deep (as skin goes)… and while I wanted to think it would be a breeze, it looks to be nothing of the sort. In fact, it’s major – major.

The whole top of her knee basically needed replacing, because they had to cut out such a large amount dead tissue. I surmised that they would simply razor it off her rear end, leaving no more scars showing outside the bikini line… but that was just my wishful thinking. They went for the outside of her thigh on the same leg; right side. Here’s what it looked like tonight.

Jens thigh, where they got the skin from:

This is what her knee looks like today:

And here is our Jen, in all her glory, keeping what little connection she has to the outside world, texting, or Facebooking… or perhaps trying to watch TV on the darned thing…

The emotional trauma of all of this is quite enough. She has been bedridden for over six weeks now, and truly has no end in sight. They don’t even know if the skin grafts will ‘take’. If they do, it’s a minimum of two more weeks of immobilization, and maybe four.

The ‘need’ is genuine and deep. She needs something to survive on to keep her bills paid. She is not full of ego, and has already applied for state assistance. She will do food stamps, and dollar store shopping, because that is what it is going to take. Please understand, if I were in her situation, I would need the help as well.

Please donate what you can.

 

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