Rickey Watts is an outgoing, fun loving, retired master mechanic. He worked for MDOT and retired after 33.25 years of service. This past year, he and his wife Jackie Watts have struggled with Rickey's increasing health problems after an infusion for rheumatoid arthritis in June 2022. Rickey found out that he was diabetic and went to the hospital with lesions on both of his feet and severe trouble walking. They found out the reason for his difficulty walking was that he had a beta hemolytic streptococcus wrapped around his spine and in the muscle tissue. He was discharged from the hospital after 14 days to the local skilled nursing after L1-3 laminectomies where he had to have daily IV drips of Ceftriaxone. He was in the skilled nursing for 43 days. After his discharge, Rickey seemed to be doing well. However, December 2nd he was admitted to UMMC with shortness of breath. They were told that Rickey had what is called a widow maker heart attack within days before going to the hospital. He was shocked 8 times to get him back and had two heart catheterizations and then they put in a pacemaker/defibrillator combination device. They were getting ready to go home managed by medication when the unit shocked him twice, which led to another catheterization. They put him on a balloon pump up through the femoral artery to keep him alive in CICU for weeks while he was being evaluated for a transplant or LVAD (Mechanical heart pump) and making him jump hoops, testing for every STD you can think of, every illegal substance you can think of, making him take many vaccinations, have a liver biopsy, pull all his teeth claiming there were bacterial pockets in his mouth. After the dental procedure, he was put into a regular room well after midnight. They were told that a cardiac physical therapist would work with him to see how his heart rhythm did while walking etc. However, a regular physical therapist came by, walked him three rooms up the hall and back, and they discharged him on medications without any word on his “status” when he had not been on his feet in weeks. They arrived home around 7:30pm and by 12:30am that same night he was hemorrhaging blood rectally. Jackie was able to get him to SMRMC with the help of her niece after waiting nearly 30 minutes for the ambulance and they worked diligently to get him to a hospital with interventional radiology to find the bleed. Turned out there were two internal, a nicked artery and a bleeding ulcer. He had about 14 units whole blood, 4 units fresh frozen platelets, and 2 units of regular platelets. They are currently at North Oaks in Hammon after his helicopter lift to take care of the GI bleeds and are awaiting discharge on meds to a skilled nursing, praying it's Camellia Estates. He had other complications while in a regular room at North Oaks and was transferred back to ICU. They are still praying for healing so that he can be transferred so that OT and PT can begin to allow him to regain his strength. They have requested the cardiac care team at North Oaks in Hammon to follow and refer him to Oschner for advanced heart care. Jackie had to leave her teaching job in order to care for Rickey and they are struggling with the astronomical expenses involved in advanced cardiac care.

We, as family of Rickey and Jackie Watts, asl that you put your hands together in prayer of healing that our Lord and Savior will lay his hands on them. We also ask that you find it in your heart to help us raise money for the lengthy medical expenses that the Watts family have incurred.

"Inch by Inch, Life is a Cinch.

Yard by Yard, Life is Hard."

Original Author Unknown