PRAYERS & HELP NEEDED FOR LAURA SIRACUSANO DUDEK'S SISTER

This GoFundMe page was set up for my sister, Louise, by her former sorority sisters. Please take the time to read it, donate if you so choose and pass it on to others. Thank you.
- Laura Siracusano Dudek

On December 24, Louise went to the Emergency Room at Missouri Baptist Medical Center, with severe abdominal pains. Emergency surgery was performed immediately, and it lasted for five hours. Louise was very sick and, according to her surgeon, almost died on the operating table. She had a large Hiatal Hernia that forced her stomach up through her diaphragm and her stomach twisted and cut off its own blood supply. Her stomach ruptured, and its acidic contents went throughout her abdomen and chest, causing major damage. During the surgery, a section of her stomach had to be removed as well as part of her esophagus. Her esophagus was so badly perforated that her surgeon had no choice but to temporarily route it out to her chest.
Louise's lungs have been severely weakened, and since her surgery, she has been in ICU and on a ventilator. She also has a feeding tube, which allows nutrition to go directly into her stomach. Louise has now been moved to a Long-Term Acute Care (LTAC) wing in the hospital. The focus there is to get her off the ventilator and get her up and moving and walking again. When Louise leaves the LTAC wing, she will be moved to a more traditional Rehabilitation unit, where she will stay until the doctors feel that she is ready to go home. Once home, Louise will receive in-home therapy to gain back her strength. The money raised here will help to defray the cost of the extensive therapy that Louise has ahead of her.

Before this happened, Louise was healthy, happy, active and recently retired. She believed in a healthy lifestyle, volunteered regularly in her community and always tried to "pay it forward." She loves to cook and garden, and her favorite hobby is raising Monarch and Black Swallowtail butterflies.

In several months, when Louise is completely healed and strong enough, she will need another major surgery. At that time, her esophagus will be reconstructed and reattached to her stomach. If that surgery goes as planned, Louise will again be able to eat and drink normally.