A MAD Thank You

Gabrielle, home in MN and recovering with newly deputized therapy dog Dr. Watson

First, a recap:

On Tuesday, June 12th the Richmond family had a bad scare when our youngest daughter Gabrielle (okay she’s 24, but she’d still my baby girl) who lives and works in Orlando FL was rushed to the ER via ambulance after multiple instances of losing consciousness amid sudden alarming amounts of blood in her stool. She was in critical condition when she arrived at the closest ER, where they said she was turning blue from blood loss and had a hemoglobin level of 5 g/dl (normal is 11-13… anything below 7 is serious and require immediate transfusion). Gabrielle spend 8 days in the ICU in two different facilities where continued drops in hemoglobin levels mystified doctors and required multiple surgeries and tests. Overall she received 15 units of blood (just under two gallons) via transfusion before they figured out what was going on.

The initial traumatic blood loss was caused by an arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a defect in the connective areas between blood vessels. This usually occurs in the brain, spinal cord, or brain stem, but can sometimes happen in other places in the body. In Gabrielle’s case, it occurred in the upper intestine where the GI tract connects to the stomach. These AVMs can sometimes spontaneously hemorrhage causing internal bleeding, which is what happened with Gabrielle. This caused massive blood loss into her intestines. After experiencing bloody stools and dizziness while at work on the 12th, she went home to rest and ended up passing out on the bathroom floor. If she had not come to and called a friend, who ended up coming over and calling an ambulance, we would have lost her.

The AVM rupture was found and repaired via endoscopic surgery (two separate surgeries, actually), but her hemoglobin levels refused to return to normal, and repeated CT scans and a colonoscopy did not find the source. The cause of the continued, mysterious drops in hemoglobin levels was eventually found after Gabrielle was transferred by ambulance to a different facility that had an advanced GI diagnostic and treatment center. Using a “pill cam” that she swallowed and that takes video of its travels through the GI tract, it was found that she had multiple bleeding ulcers in her stomach and lower intestine. This was a totally separate issue from the AVM, and that they claim was hidden from endoscopy and colonoscopy tests because of the volume of blood present. Medication to combat the ulcers, which were likely a result of long term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen and naproxen in over the counter meds like Advil and Aleve, stopped the blood loss and Gabrielle was released from the hospital after 10 days. Her mom took the first flight down to Orlando after Gabrielle’s collapse and was by her side throughout the ordeal. I stayed home to care for our oldest special needs daughter, Elizabeth. Gabrielle and Anna flew home to Minnesota on Friday the 22nd, and she has been here recuperating for the lest few days. She’ll go back to Florida on Sunday, healthy and ready to resume her conquering of the world.

The Thank You:

I cannot tell you how much love and support flowed out to Gabrielle and our family over this frightening experience via friends, family, and especially from the professional cartooning and caricature community. Our daughter Victoria (yeah, I have a lot of daughters… why do you think I’m a body builder?) started a GoFundMe campaign because Gabrielle has no insurance, and this crisis is going to financially devastate her. The amount of financial support she received was amazing. Every donation, no matter the amount, was a blessing. Her bill after so long in the ICU, so many tests and surgeries, ambulance trips and blood transfusions is sure to be staggering. The monetary donations allowed her to worry less about the immediate bills and more about getting better. Despite the over $25k from the GoFundMe campaign and additional help from other resources, we still face a lot of cost over this, but it’s a lot less of a worry with this start.

More importantly, the tremendous amount of well wishes, prayers, and love from so many kept Gabrielle’s spirits up when it looked so bleak in the ICU with hemoglobin tests continuing to crash and no answer in sight. She felt every kind word and positive thought, and rode them like a wave over every obstacle that was placed in her path. She received emails, texts, cards, packages, presents, and jokes from so many. The material aspects of that pale in comparison to the realization of how many people out there love and care about her. It’s hard to put into words what that meant to her… and to us.

So thank you. Thank you to all who donated to her GoFundMe campaign. Thank you to all who reached out with your love, concern, and prayers. Thank you to all who recognized the heartache and helplessness we felt as our baby girl was struggling in the ICU and had no answers, and lent her and us your strength and resolve. Thank you from the bottom of this father’s heart.

Thank you.