Hello friends, family, and community,
After feeling ill for many days, Douglas started throwing up many quarts of blood and was taken by ambulance to Dominican Hospital on Monday, June 2nd. On arrival, he was given four emergency blood transfusions to re-stabilize him for an endoscopy to discover the source of bleeding in his stomach. Doctors began seeing inflammation and fluids on his organs in CT scans and ultrasounds and were struggling to find the cause of the bleeding.
In the initial surgery, 6 varices were cauterized and clipped to prevent additional bleeding out. We will be in recovery in-hospital until at least June 8th, at which point Douglas will recover at home. Then, he will work with the Dominican GI team and start undergoing ongoing surgeries to help repair the varices and create a plan to stabilize his organs and keep him safe from additional bleeds while the root cause is addressed. Dr. David Anjelly, who operated on Douglas initially, has taken him on as a patient to support us through this journey. The doctors believe there is a fluke parasite that has long been present (perhaps from swimming as a child, etc.) that has been slowly compromising his organs and putting stress on his GI system, explaining some of the pain he’s been having in his stomach for several years, unexplained until now. We thank God for safely holding Douglas throughout this deeply traumatic experience and providing a care team that will help us navigate from here on out. It is likely this is something Douglas will be dealing with and managing throughout the rest of his life. While this feels scary, we also feel a deep sense of gratitude to be here at Dominican in 2 North East, receiving care and support.
Douglas will have a minimum of 1-2 more operations to help monitor and maintain the bleeding of the other varices in the esophagus that are close to bleeding out and causing complications. They will also be managing symptoms with various medicines. They have expressed that this will be a marathon, so to speak, not a sprint.
We feel so grateful to the entire care team, the nurses, the physicians, and the blood donors who helped to save his life. Thanks also to so many of you who reached out and supported us when we needed it the most. We have felt well taken care of in one of the hardest moments we have ever experienced.
So… Here we are, reaching out to you all. We (Douglas and Kendra) are needing financial support to help pay for medical procedures and supplement our monthly rent during Douglas’ recovery and ongoing operations and care.
After being released, Douglas will need time to recover and regain strength before his next surgery(s). If you know Douglas, you know he works a lot to take care of our family and so many people in his life, and this is part of why I (Kendra) am asking for community support. I will be working summer school and babysitting, and Douglas is going to need to significantly adjust his UCSC schedule and Uber driving throughout the next 2-3 months (at least) while he receives ongoing testing, care, and additional operations.
We have been encouraged by friends and family to reach out. While it feels difficult, I realize this is one of the many gifts of community, that we are not alone in life’s most difficult moments.
This fundraiser will be used exclusively for the following purposes:
1. Supplement our rent/PG&E for 3-4 months July-October $2500+/month.
2. Help cover medical bills from:
– Our initial hospital stay
– Douglas’ first surgery
– The ambulance ride fee
– Upcoming operation and office visit with our gastroenterologist, Dr. David Anjelly of Dominican Hospital.
– Supplement medication costs after insurance (if necessary, a lot is still unknown here)
My prayer is that Kisa (Douglas) can have space and peace to recover safely without triggering symptoms or an additional GI emergency as he receives this amazing and life-saving care.
We completely understand that giving financially is not always possible and we do not ask anyone to give if they do not feel able or if it would add stress to your own financial situation. We are thankful for anyone who can help support through prayer, check-ins and encouragement, sharing this fundraiser, donating, or just holding him/us in your thoughts. Additionally, I want to take this moment to thank the hospital teams, nurses, doctors, and blood donors who literally saved his life and held us in such immense care during this moment.
With gratitude,
Douglas and Kendra