Jonathan Olford Medical Recovery

Due to the nature of social media, there is a chance that Jonathan’s clients may see this. If you are a client of Jonathan’s, please support Jonathan by your prayers instead of a monetary contribution. Contributing to his financial support is considered a dual relationship and would do more harm than good for him long-term.

On October 17th, Jonathan drove down to LA to have a consultation about a much needed procedure for the chronic back pain he had been experiencing for quite a long time. However, on his way to this appointment, his life took a hard left turn. About 5 miles from the doctor's office, he suffered a mild heart attack and had a fender bender. He still made it to his appointment, miraculously, but was immediately transported to Cedars Sinai Hospital, where he was admitted. For starters he needed 3 units of blood. After several days of many tests it was determined that he needed open heart surgery, and underwent a triple bypass on October 26th. He was in Cedars Sinai for a total of 13 days and then was driven back up to Fresno to begin the recovery process.

However, after several days back at home, it became clear that there was something wrong with the incision site. He went to see his cardiologist here in Fresno and it was determined that Jonathan had a very serious sternal wound infection. He was sent directly to the Fresno Heart Hospital where he was met by the surgeon who immediately did exploratory surgery. The procedure confirmed that an extremely serious infection had already saturated the bones of his sternum, chest cavity and surrounding tissue. A sternal infection like this only occurs in about 2% of all open heart surgeries. The surgeon had to open him up again to clean out the infection and put in a drain and then on heavy duty IV antibiotics for the next 6 weeks. He remained in the hospital for approximately 6 weeks, dealing with more infections and complications. From October 17th until December 23rd, with exception of 6 days at home, he has been in the hospital.

Because of the serious nature of the infection that has settled into his sternum, there is no option other than to remove it completely. Once infection is in the bone, it cannot heal with antibiotics. The next step is that he will go into surgery in early January to have his sternum removed and then immediately have plastic surgery to reconstruct his chest wall. As you can imagine, this is a very serious and devastating journey, from what was a 'simple triple bypass' which actually wasn't so simple, to the life altering effects of infection.

The last day that Jonathan was able to work was October 16th, and he may not be able to return to work until April or May, depending on how the recovery process goes after this next surgery. He is in need of support financially to navigate these very uncharted waters. As Jonathan is self employed, he has been unable to bring in any income to cover living expenses, food, rent, utilities and medical bills not covered by insurance. The big picture is that he will have been unable to work and earn a living from mid October 2018 through approximately April-May of 2019. Any help for Jonathan is so appreciated. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.