With consent of the mods I am asking for help to cover a family member’s medical expenses through a GoFundMe campaign.
My better half, Mrs Iggy, was orphaned at age 15 and her extended family took her in. Aunt Judi stepped up with her siblings to raise Mrs Iggy even though she is poor, even by Colombian standards.
Now Judi is having health problems with a wound on her leg that is healing poorly. Her medical insurance is willing to pay for the amputation her primary care doctor has recommended. A specialist believes that her leg can be saved with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) but the insurer is refusing to pay for that treatment plan. Specialist medical care there requires payment up front before service is rendered
HBOT is indicated for aid in wound healing per John’s Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic. The increased pressure forces oxygen into the tissues and can aid in regrowth of blood vessels and thus healing of slow healing wounds
Unfortunately my finances are extremely tight and I just don’t have the US$1500 to cover the cost of this series of treatments. It is beyond the financial means of Tia Judi and her family. We need help, thus the GoFundMe effort. I’d appreciate any help from the Doper community.
This one struck home for me. My husband was injured years ago, and amputation was recommended a couple of times. One doctor insisted he could save the leg, and he did. So I’m going over to your site and donating, hoping for an equally good outcome for Aunt Judi.
I am simply in awe of the generosity of this community.
Therapy is a go. If there is one thing to be said in favor of the medical system in Colombia it’s that the specialist can fit you in almost immediately, if you can pay.
The schedule is for a one hour treatment each weekday for ten weeks. Fifty session laying in a tube about the size of the bore of an MRI machine. At least there are windows and there isn’t all the noise that an MRI makes… and tia Judi isn’t prone to claustrophobia.
And this hits home to me in another way. My brother had his leg amputated during the course of his cancer treatment. I saw how hard that can be in the comparatively accessible USA. So thinking about Judi facing those challenges in a city with few accommodations for the disabled in the public sphere made me feel I really needed to figure out how to give her the best chance of saving her leg going forward.
Judi has completed only a few weeks of the therapy but positive results are already evident. The wound has closed quite a bit, though there is still a way to go. Her pain level is improving and coloration is getting a bit better.
I added a recent pic of her leg to the GoFundMe update. It is encouraging (or a bit icky if you are squeemish) to see progress.
Thanks again for all the support. Not sure how we could have helped her so much without help from everyone.
Getting near the end of ten weeks and there is major improvement. I’ve posted an update on the GoFundMe campaign with a before/after side-by-side photo from a couple weeks ago. It really is amazing.
However even with all the obvious improvement the central wound has not completely closed. It is tremendously better, but still room for improvement.
So… the HBOT doctor has recommended continuing therapy for four more weeks. I have updated the fundraising goal on GoFundMe to reflect that.
Many thanks to all for kind words of support and the amazing assistance that has made this therapy possible.
