Love Our Leslie

A little bit about Leslie, she is 38 years old and a single mom of two amazing kids. Her daughter is 17 years old, she is going into her last year of high school and they are currently preparing to send letters out for colleges she would like to attend. She plays soccer (goalie), basketball and throws the disk-shot-put. Along with her great grades and amazing service she does for the community, she hopes to go to college on a track and field scholarship. Her son is 11 years old and plays baseball and football. He also loves the outdoors, skateboarding and has the warmest heart ever. Then there is Leslie…a few years ago she would explain herself as a strong single parent, who put herself through undergrad and grad school while working and raising two kids. When they were living in Elko Nevada, she was working with Department of Child and Family services, helping families get back on track and in the evenings she taught college. As far as a single parent family goes, they had it made. Then life happened, long story short, got sick…then sicker…family moved her and her children back to Utah. She spent an entire year in and out of the hospital and her amazing kids spent that year, trying to adapt to being back in Utah, living with her parents and watching their mom deteriorate. She ended up having surgery that left her with an ostomy with no chance of a reversal. For those who do not know what that is, She have a hole in her stomach, in which a bag attaches and her fecal matter empties into. Although, this has made it so she could continue to live, it has brought about so many complications she finds herself not being able to live life. She has issues with her appliances not being able to adhere to her skin, this basically leaves her covered in, well you know what. She lost her sense of smell from the Chemo medication she had to take, thus it is usually not until the stool is stinging her skin or running down her leg that she is aware of what has happened. This happens multiple times per week. Also, due to the lack of intestines (Colon), she has a very difficult time staying hydrated and getting any type of vitamins or minerals. She has to use injections, gummies or liquid medications for most of her nutritional needs. She used to be the type of mom that would go to every game, event, etc. The first one there and last one to leave, however, she has had so many accidents and feels humiliated fir her and her children, she now isolates herself from activities. Her children have got to the point they just do not ask her to go any more and if she leaves in a rush, they know what has happened. During the school year, she tries to continue to work with at risk youth, by teaching as much as she can at an Alternative High School. She has had to deal with many accidents while teaching, humiliating to say the least. However, being the only provider for her kids, and being on disability, they need that extra money that teaching brings. SOOOOO…what does all this mean, she wants to undergo a surgery that will allow her to have her pouch on the inside of her stomach, rather than a pouch that sticks to her stomach. This surgery is called BCIR, it creates a pouch on the inside of your stomach using your ilium ( the end of your small intestine.) you still have a small hole in your stomach, in which you drain your stool with a catheter. The surgery is very expensive, Medicare is her only form of insurance and it does not cover all of the costs. She have so much life in her, she has a master’s degree, in which she wants to be using in contributing to society. Most importantly, She have two amazing kids that need her back. The money we are trying to raise, is what she will have to come up with for my deductible, co-pay, traveling expenses and the money she will not have coming in from teaching for the months she will be out……She has tried to never ask for any help, so we are doing it for her :-) If you can't donate, that is totally great, but please pass this story around, as most people are not aware of what the BCIR is and we want anyone who is suffering to know there are options. Remember, WE LOVE OUR LESLIE!!!