Hey guys, if this isn't allowed, please delete.
Many of you may know Chris Hight (Fishingvol), he's been a member here since 2006. He's also a guide on Chickamauga. We used to fish a lot of the CFF Tx's and even used to put on some tournaments too. He hasn't been on here much lately, but there is a reason.
Many of you know about his daughter, Maddie. She had been fighting Neuroblastoma since she was 3 years old and is one of the longest surviving patients of that disease. She's 18 now and has been virtually cancer free for 3 years. Last spring she graduated from Ooltewah and has just begun online classes at Chattanooga State. Here's the kicker, she's in a hospital in Cincinnati. Due to the heavy amounts of Chemotherapy and Radiation she received over the years, the tissue in her lungs has thickened dramatically....to the point where she now needs a double lung transplant. She has tubes in her chest to help her lungs function and is going through the lengthy process of trying to get approved to even be on a transplant list.
Even if she does get on the list, she can't leave the hospital and could be there for a year. Fortunately, her mom is able to be with her and is teaching school virtually from the hospital and hotel. Chris can only get up there when work allows and their other 3 kids are spread out among friends. As you can imagine, this is a gigantic financial strain. Even with insurance, stays in the hospital can cost well over $1,000/ day, in addition to hotels, 350 mile each way drives, crappy fast food, lost work etc. I've tried to put myself in this position, with my child fighting for life, 6 hours away, in a strange place and barely being able to see the other kids....well, I can't imagine....even in 2020.
Now, neither Chris nor his wife asked for this, but we've been fishing together for over 13 years and I've seen everything that Maddie has gone through and overcome. So, I set up a GoFundMe page to help out some with expenses. I know it can be difficult to give to someone you may not know and if you can't that's fine...at least keep the family in your prayers. The link to the page is at the bottom.
Here is the latest update for Maddie."Update for Maddie...Elizabeth asked me to update everyone.
Over the past couple of days, Maddie has had difficulty maintaining her O2 stats due to her right lung that keeps collapsing. Maddie was on the Bi-pap to hopefully help keep her oxygen up since the high flow wasn’t working anymore yesterday and today. She was tolerating it fairly well but was anxious about having to use the Bi-pap. This morning, Maddie’s O2 stats are back down trying to get rid of the carbon dioxide gas but her carbon dioxide numbers are either getting higher or staying the same. Maddie is having to get intubated to help with this. While getting intubated there is a chance that she could go into cardiac arrest because her O2 levels could get too low.
Please pray for Maddie and the family. They need us now more than ever.
Maddie did get approval to start the evaluation process to get approved for the lung transplant. Nutrition is one of the biggest hurdles since she got the all clear from the oncologist. She got a PICC line yesterday and they have started TPN, which will hopefully help with her nutrition. If she gets denied, it doesn’t mean she can’t get approved in the future. They will work on the areas that need to be worked on and reassess. Maddie is O+, which means she can only receive a lung that is O+.
I will update once I know more. "
Please consider helping if you are able or at least share with someone who can.
https://gf.me/u/yvmgd2
Thanks everyone,
Davo
Many of you may know Chris Hight (Fishingvol), he's been a member here since 2006. He's also a guide on Chickamauga. We used to fish a lot of the CFF Tx's and even used to put on some tournaments too. He hasn't been on here much lately, but there is a reason.
Many of you know about his daughter, Maddie. She had been fighting Neuroblastoma since she was 3 years old and is one of the longest surviving patients of that disease. She's 18 now and has been virtually cancer free for 3 years. Last spring she graduated from Ooltewah and has just begun online classes at Chattanooga State. Here's the kicker, she's in a hospital in Cincinnati. Due to the heavy amounts of Chemotherapy and Radiation she received over the years, the tissue in her lungs has thickened dramatically....to the point where she now needs a double lung transplant. She has tubes in her chest to help her lungs function and is going through the lengthy process of trying to get approved to even be on a transplant list.
Even if she does get on the list, she can't leave the hospital and could be there for a year. Fortunately, her mom is able to be with her and is teaching school virtually from the hospital and hotel. Chris can only get up there when work allows and their other 3 kids are spread out among friends. As you can imagine, this is a gigantic financial strain. Even with insurance, stays in the hospital can cost well over $1,000/ day, in addition to hotels, 350 mile each way drives, crappy fast food, lost work etc. I've tried to put myself in this position, with my child fighting for life, 6 hours away, in a strange place and barely being able to see the other kids....well, I can't imagine....even in 2020.
Now, neither Chris nor his wife asked for this, but we've been fishing together for over 13 years and I've seen everything that Maddie has gone through and overcome. So, I set up a GoFundMe page to help out some with expenses. I know it can be difficult to give to someone you may not know and if you can't that's fine...at least keep the family in your prayers. The link to the page is at the bottom.
Here is the latest update for Maddie."Update for Maddie...Elizabeth asked me to update everyone.
Over the past couple of days, Maddie has had difficulty maintaining her O2 stats due to her right lung that keeps collapsing. Maddie was on the Bi-pap to hopefully help keep her oxygen up since the high flow wasn’t working anymore yesterday and today. She was tolerating it fairly well but was anxious about having to use the Bi-pap. This morning, Maddie’s O2 stats are back down trying to get rid of the carbon dioxide gas but her carbon dioxide numbers are either getting higher or staying the same. Maddie is having to get intubated to help with this. While getting intubated there is a chance that she could go into cardiac arrest because her O2 levels could get too low.
Please pray for Maddie and the family. They need us now more than ever.
Maddie did get approval to start the evaluation process to get approved for the lung transplant. Nutrition is one of the biggest hurdles since she got the all clear from the oncologist. She got a PICC line yesterday and they have started TPN, which will hopefully help with her nutrition. If she gets denied, it doesn’t mean she can’t get approved in the future. They will work on the areas that need to be worked on and reassess. Maddie is O+, which means she can only receive a lung that is O+.
I will update once I know more. "
Please consider helping if you are able or at least share with someone who can.
https://gf.me/u/yvmgd2
Thanks everyone,
Davo