By Kathy Chaffin

Salisbury Post

A Salisbury woman is trying to raise funds to transport her critically ill husband to Pittsburgh to see if he qualifies for a potentially lifesaving intestinal transplant.

Rowan Christian Assembly of Granite Quarry, where Belinda Facemeyer has been a member for several years, has agreed to accept donations on her behalf.

Facemeyer, of East Lafayette Street, said she needs money to either rent a vehicle or repair her car as well as pay for gas to transport her husband, Larry, to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he will be evaluated for transplant eligibility.

She will also need funds for housing during Larry's evaluation and, if he qualifies, the subsequent transplant.

The evaluation is dependent on Medicaid approving payment of the transplant. Pittsburgh University Medical Center is one of two hospitals in the country which performs intestinal transplants for Medicaid and Medicare patients.

Larry, 54, had been on disability for almost 10 years after a heart attack and back surgery when he suffered yet another health setback last year. Belinda said his stomach began swelling two days after Thanksgiving, causing him excruciating pain.

She drove him to the emergency room at Rowan Regional Medical Center, where he was examined and airlifted to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem. During emergency surgery there, Belinda said, Larry's heart stopped for four minutes, causing him to lose blood flow to his small and large intestines.

Surgeons subsequently removed his intestines and performed an ileostomy, after which Larry remained in a coma for more than two months.

Since then, Belinda said Larry has had increasing problems absorbing any nutrients or keeping fluids in his body. He spent almost the whole month of May in the Winston-Salem hospital.

"I have to hook him up to an IV at night," she said. "He gets 3,000 ccs of fluid at night, and he has to drink a lot during the day so he won't get dehydrated.

"He's going downhill. He lost three pounds last week. Without the transplant, doctors have said he won't make it."

Belinda, who has been on disability herself for eight years, said she and her husband survive financially on a month-to-month basis and can't afford the cost of the trip without help.

The Rev. Glynn Dickens of Rowan Christian Assembly said the church has been supportive of Belinda and Larry Facemeyer in their time of need.

"Money has been given to them on different occasions for various needs," he said, "and of course, we have our food pantry."

Dickens said Larry is fortunate to be alive. "I've visited many times in the hospital," he said, "and I've been there when they thought he wouldn't last another hour or two."

Donations may be mailed to the Larry Facemeyer Fund at Rowan Christian Assembly, 923 N. Salisbury Ave., Granite Quarry, N.C. 28146.