Hi, my name is Gavin. I'm raising funds to provide private healthcare for my mum because there are no appointments available on the NHS for what she needs.
In May 2022 I moved back to the UK from the USA where I was living to look after my mum as her health was deteriorating and she seemed less able to care for herself. I live with her now in Exeter as a carer. In 2023 she went into hospital twice with sepsis, and they realised she needed gastrointestinal surgery to remove a diverticular pouch. Exeter hospital said they wouldn't do it because she was too high risk (she had 4 cardiac surgeries before for atrial fibrillation). So we found a surgeon in London who was confident he could do it.
She went into hospital May 2024 and was supposed to be in for 7-10 days. Following the surgery there were several complications including blood pressure issues, infection, and hematomas. She had to go to intensive care 3 times and each time her survival was touch and go. In the end she was discharged after more than 8 weeks (2 months) in hospital. During that time she had post-surgical delirium and was hallucinating and completely lost her short term memory. She couldn't remember who she was or where she was or why she was there.
When she got home she could hardly walk, but her mobility has been improving. However, she isn't getting any physiotherapy from the NHS to help her rebuild her muscles in order to be able to live independently.
Also, the delirium has passed but she is still having really bad memory problems. She was referred to the memory clinic by the GP but they wrote and said they don't have any openings and they don't know when she'll get an appointment. So at the moment she's getting no support or investigation into whether she had any brain damage in the hospital, or whether she has dementia, or something else.
Finally, the time she was in hospital was very expensive. I took 2 months off work (originally supposed to be 7 days) and slept on a friends sofa so that I could go into the hospital every day. Seeing a familiar face is crucial for recovering from delirium. But the costs of parking and daily living costs in addition to buying things for my mum that she needed in hospital ran into the thousands.
So, I'm humbly asking for some financial support for the following things:
- Get some private physiotherapy for my mum to help rebuild her muscles
- Pay off some of the debt I had to take on to pay for everything associated with her time in hospital
- Pay for private healthcare to get her checked for brain damage/dementia to understand whats causing her memory problems and confusion and see if there's any treatment.
The goal is that she would ultimately be able to live independently again and live a fuller life.
My gratitude in advance.