"EAT FOR ANNA" Medical Benefit Fundraiser

Anna Bledsaw is diagnosed with Gastroparesis or stomach paraylsis.  People with this disorder have frequent hospital admissions with symptoms that include nausea/vomiting, bloating, severe abdominal pain, electrolyte imbalances, dehydration, changes in blood sugar levels, excessive weight loss and frequent central line infections.  Anna requires total parenteral nutrition via a feeding tube.  She first got sick in October of 2010.  Many different hospital stays/tests later, she was finally diagnosed.  Anna is married to Eric Bledsaw and they have 3 children, ages, 10, 9 and 6.
The doctors are recommending Anna for a gastric pacer.  This is not a cure, but it can definitely improve Anna's quality of life by reducing the nausea/vomiting.  It would allow Anna to once again be able eat in limited amounts, thereby reducing the dependence on total parenteral nutrition via the feeding tube.  The gastric pacer has been approved by the FDA as a humanitarian use device, which is a designation reserved for devices treating rare medical conditions.  Because of this, patients sometimes struggle to get their insurance companies to cover the procedure.  Jast the gastric pacer device alone costs $81,000.
Supplemental funds will be provided by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.