What was meant to be a getaway to relax for Carseland couple Paul and Deanna Fekkes has turned into a medical nightmare.

Paul and Deanna set off to the Dominican Republic for their 2-week vacation on Monday, April 24 and on April 28 their daughter Brianna received a phone call from her dad telling her that her mom was rushed to the hospital and they were unsure of what was going on.

After a few hours, they were told that Deanna had an ulcer that ruptured and perforated her stomach. By the time she came out of surgery, she had her appendix, spleen and 12% of her stomach removed due to the ulcer.

Unfortunately, that is not where the story ends for Deanna, who suffered complications after her surgery.

"They took her in for a CT scan yesterday using a dye pack and it showed that her lower bowels have moved and they said that is what's causing most of her post-op pain that they're having a hard time controlling.  They're also saying that that's what's causing the fluid build up in her lungs," Brianna said 

Deanna will be going in for another surgery this afternoon at which time Brianna said she will need to stay an additional week, "They're just basically trying to fix what's happened now since the last surgery, things have shifted inside and they're trying to repair that today." 

If everything goes perfectly in surgery today Deanna may be permitted to fly home on a commercial flight, if not the other option is much worse. Brianna explained that right now the recommendation is still that her mother would have to be flown home on a medical evac flight with a price tag of 75-85 thousand dollars.

"So insurance, when they talked to my dad yesterday, they said that they were only going to cover a portion of it, which was 25,000 of the 85,000.  We had spoken with their other insurance companies as well and no one was willing to kind of double up on the insurance or anything like that for them.  So we could be left on the hook for well over $60,000 worth of airfare to try and get her home."  

Brianna said she and her family can only wait and hope the surgery today will allow her mom to come home within a week.  However, there is still a long road of recovery ahead for Deanna who works a physical job as a house cleaner in Strathmore, Langdon, and surrounding areas. 

"Her recovery time is supposed to be 6 to 8 weeks and that was without all of these complications."

It may take some time for Deanna to be able to fully be back on her feet; as for right now Breanna and her family just want her home. 

There is a gofundme set up to aid with some of the costs that the Fekkes family will be facing in the coming weeks including the possibility of a five-figure flight to bring Deanna Home.

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