On February 18th, 26-year-old Tim Popp was playing with his 18-month old daughter when he suddenly collapsed to the floor & passed out. He felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his left chest area & could not breathe. He immediately went to the emergency room at Alexian Brothers Hospital where he was sent home later that day with some medications. Tim has felt this chest pain for the past 3 years; however it has gone away within a couple of days after a visit from the E.R. After a few days, the chest pain & wheezing got unbearable; the medications did not seem to work this time. He returned to Alexian Brothers where he was immediately admitted.

Tim was at Alexian Brothers for 3 ½ weeks before he was eventually transferred to Rush University Medical Center. The doctors thought this was the best decision since they referred to him as a “puzzle” & his wheezing as “uncommon”. He was discharged from Rush 5 days later. Less than 24 hours, his symptoms worsened again & returned to Alexian Brothers. He was there for an additional week.

During the course of his 5-week hospital stay, he was diagnosed with ITP (Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura), causing his platelets to drop over a 4-day period to as low as 12,000, causing visible bruising. He went through 3 IVIG transfusions & 2 blood transfusions of platelets. His platelets still continue to erratically jump from high to low weekly. Tim was also diagnosed with VCD (Paradoxial Vocal Cord Disorder) & larengeal spasm, causing the irregular & “uncommon” wheezing & panic attacks. This also makes swallowing bite-sized foods and liquids very difficult as his family must do the Heimlich manuever at least twice a day on Tim. However, the doctors are still uncertain what is causing his chest pain. He has had 5 nerve block procedures, which have not helped alleviate the pain. He recently has had increasing headaches, blurred vision, shortness of breath & jaw pain. Increased dizziness throughout the day makes walking difficult, as he has multiple falls daily, causing blackouts with trauma to the head and bruised ribs.

During the past 3 months, it has been overwhelming, stressful & terrifying. He is currently not allowed to return to work at Cook County Sheriff's Department. He is now on disability, only receiving 50% of his monthly income. Tim cannot watch his 18-month alone, let alone be by himself. With the amount of pain & discomfort he is in, along with the high dosage of medications that still make it difficult to control his comfort level, Tim cannot function normally.

Insurance has recently denied coverage for tests & procedures that his doctors have recommended & find vital to his diagnosis. Insurance believes there is not enough medical reasoning for these tests to be performed, therefore doctors are providing inadequate care. Furthermore, four of Tim's doctors have recommended that he should travel to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, which insurance states they will not cover as well. It is frustrating knowing there is something wrong, yet we are unable to find any answers because of the financial burden.

So it's with humility and hope that we turn to our family, friends and loved ones for support. We are asking that if you are able to, please make a donation to help offset the medical costs that his family have endured and will continue to during this difficult time. While we don't know what the total expenses will be, we do know that your generosity will go a long way to alleviate any additional stress that these costs may provoke so that Tim & his family can focus all of their energy and strength on searching for a quick road to recovery.

We have no doubt that Tim WILL beat this! Your continued thoughts and prayers are always welcome and much appreciated.

Thank you and feel free to spread the word to anyone and everyone you think may be interested in supporting Team Popp! Every little bit helps!