Help Jim Bishop

This fundraiser is being started to try to help Jim Bishop's family. He has been in the hospital for 2 months now. Last year, he was in the hospital for 79 days. Help is needed to pay for enormous hospital bills, gas to and from the hospital (1 1/2 hours each way) and/or lodging and meals for his wife, as well as other family members who may need to travel from out of state to be with him. 

A wish list has also been created here that shows the need for a replacement vehicle. They own a 1995 dodge neon with over 500,000 (half a million) miles on it, and it and their other car (1997 Dodge intrepid) are both on their last legs, the huge number of miles being put on each is making them both break down a lot. He loves his dodge neon, so it'd be nice to be able to get him a newer one that he would love as well. The regular bills are falling behind because of the incredible expenses being incurred now. 

Below is a list of the diagnosis that he has had, just in the last two years, unless indicated by a *. Those conditions he has had for much longer than the last two years, some 3, 4, or 5 years, some, much longer. 

*Diabetes*

Periphreal Artery Disease (also known as P.A.D.

Afib

Gangrene

Pneumonia

Prostatic hyperplasia,

 High blood pressure

Pulmonary Edema

C.O.P.D

Congestive heart failure

Postherpetic neuralgia,

Ventricular tachycardia,

Coronary artery disease

*Ischemic strokes

Benign prostatic hyperplasia

*Degenerative disc disease

*Chronic pain

*G.E.R.D.

*Insomnia

Cachexia

Jim had the first disabling stroke in 2010. It was an ischemic stroke. Last year, when he had 5 bypasses done on his heart, he had another smaller series of strokes in the ICU directly following the heart surgery. The heart surgeon told the family that almost every single artery in his heart was blocked. He was hospitalized in three different hospitals, for a total of 79 days then. Every time they'd transfer him to a different one, something else seemed to have gone wrong. 

He had neck surgery done on January 16, 2014, in Lexington, at Good Samaritan Hospital. Again- just as last year, things just started going wrong. This time it was his ability to swallow. When the surgeon had gone in and replaced the five discs in his neck, the esophagus and windpipe, and swallowing mechanisms were disturbed. That created the need for a feeding tube. A peg tube was put in place before he went home, so feeding could be continued there. This remained until the last few days of February.From the time of Jim's discharge from the hospital, in January and February, his health began to decline at a rapid rate. There were many trips to the emergency room, for various reasons, but it almost always had something to do with his vital signs bottoming out. Doctors hadn't been ble to figure out why, or what was going on. Then, on June 8, 2014, he was taken to the emergency room in Morehead, Kentucky, with infection in his feet (gangrene) raging wildly out of control. While there, in the ER, an EKG was done, and it turned up abnormal. He was admitted. From that point, up until June 20, his condition declined at a rate unmatched before. Within the first 3 days alone, he continued to spike fevers, became more and more lethargic. An overall decline. On Friday, June 13, a vascular surgeon named Dr. Victor, went in and put one stint in the main artery of each leg, in an effort to save Jim's feet. The procedure itself seemed to accomplish the goal of slowing down the gangrene, with increased blood flow to the feet, however, it was actually done while he still was spiking fevers, indicating infection somewhere in his body. The following day, his oxygen stats were bottoming out. He was dropping into the upper 60's, and low 70's on such a regular basis, they put him on a "bipap" machine, which recycles the air one breathes in and out, as well as supplying a small amount of oxygen to assist in the breathing. However, the mask continually came off, either by him moving around, or pulling it off in his confused state. It had gotten to the point where his 02 stats were down in the low 50's. Finally, Jim was transferred to Central Baptist hospital in Lexington Kentucky. When it was known that he was being transferred, doctors moved him to ICU in St. Claire in Morehead. He was not put on a ventilator until the very last hour or two there. He finally made it to Lexington, and remained on a ventilator for 6 days, as doctors worked to save him life, essentially. Jim remained in ICU for 8 days at Central Baptist. He was then transferred for a few more days to a different ICU unit, and finally, moved to a floor about the 12 or 13'th of July. Among the other things that doctors have discovered that Jim has, is a condition called cachexia, a disease in which he is "wasting away", The doctors at Central Baptist have also said that his brain appears older than what it should, meaning it's "atrophied".All of these conditions, along with his previous diagnosis', have culminated in creating a situation that is very serious indeed. The expenses of either traveling to and from home in Frenchburg, Ky, to Lexington, Ky, on a daily basis, or the expenses of staying in a motel, and purchasing food every day to eat, both situations are very exhausting for family members, as well as impossible to finance alone, and still keep other bills paid up regularly. Any donations or gifts, or help in any way will be greatly appreciated, and is much need