26 operations in 20 years - please help Michael and Glenese.

I've created this givealittle page to gather some support for Michael Blake, a very good friend of mine and somebody who has been a critical part of my life, as well as the lives of hundreds of other young people across New Zealand. He has been a pillar of strength for so many people when dealing with lifes many challenges and hurdles, and now he needs our help.

It's difficult to describe Michael. I first met him in 2007, during my fifth form year at Taupo Nui a Tia College. He was a vocal coach, and I instantly connected with him from our first conversation. He very quickly became one of the closest people in my life, and over the last ten years has played a role as my mentor, my life coach, my confidant and one of my best friends.

Michael touches the life of everybody he meets. He has an amazing talent for reading people, sensing feelings and emotions, and for drawing out the difficult conversations and helping young people to cope with their situations.

I've heard anecdotally about the massive impacts he has had on countless lives throughout the community, and I know there are a number of young people who are doing incredible things in their careers, their studies and areas where they have found passion, who may not have been today here if it were not for Michael's guidance and love through the difficult times.

For those who don't know, Michael has been struggling with health problems for the last twenty years. What started as an initial colonoscopy has resulted in twenty six operations between 1999 and December 2017.

In 1999, during the initial colonoscopy, the surgeon punctured Michael's bowel, and an emergency operation was performed to save his live. His colon was removed, and he was given a stoma bag which he lived with for months.

The reversal operation didn't work, and Michael ended up with a small bowel blockage. He had to go under the knife twelve days later to remove a further section of the bowel and to rejoin the stoma bag. The recovery period was ten weeks in hospital.

Various operations followed to mend the multiple hernias which occurred due to the weakness of the stomach wall muscles following the surgeries.

Among those operations, the hernias were repaired with prolene mesh, which caused problems until 2011/2012, when they were operated on again. The results of those operations were an infection, and Michael had a machine hooked into his chest which he carried everywhere which drained the fluid from the wound.

This continued until February 2013, when another specialist operated to remove the mesh, the infected tissue, and applied a VAC dressing. This dressing didn't set properly, and a few weeks later Michael was rushed to hospital in an ambulance following a serious bleed from the wound.

In March 2013, a surgeon took a skin graft from Michael's thigh, and used it to cover the wound. It was one of the largest skin grafts the surgeon had ever completed in his career, and the recovery was very slow, with the skin blistering and a stitch still protruding. There were a number of surgeries over the next few years to revise the graft.

In June 2016, there was another blockage, and so an abdominal reconstruction surgery took place to further attempt to remedy the ongoing situation. Part of this surgery was 'double breasting' his muscle tissue (cutting, stretching and moving it so that it covers his stomach) in order to provide better core strength. The result of these operations was a tremor in Michael's left hand, which is still an ongoing problem to date.

In October 2017, he was rolled into surgery again - this time to remove the gallbladder as the surgeon believed this would help to fix the problem. During what should have been a routine one hour procedure, the surgeon ended up cutting Michael's bowel twice, and they had to open him up properly to fix it. The surgery ended up taking five hours, and the recovery time has now increased to eight weeks.

I have uploaded a few photos of the progression of the surgeries on the gallery but WARNING they are quite GRAPHIC.

Michael is constantly living in pain. Internal scarring means that movement is restricted and is often painful is he manages to stretch the scar tissue. The numerous operations to give Michael more stability and strength in his core have occured as muscles have been double breasted, cut and stretch and moved across the stomach.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is evident in their lives, and although they keep themselves 'emotionally afloat', this year has proven to be very difficult.

Every year, Michael and Glenese (his wife) manage to make ends meet, but with medical costs eroding their savings, and now impacting on their wellbeing (as Michael is now losing contracts with schools due to his ill health), this year has been a particularly difficult time.

Although ACC are involved in Michael's recovery plans, they do not cover all the bills. The gallbladder operation alone cost over $27,000 and is not covered at all by ACC.

Glenese has taken on more than a full workload this year in order to provide a financial buffer, but she now finds herself in the difficult situation of being burnt out and needing recovery time herself.

While this entire timeline has been going on, Michael has never stopped giving to people. He regularly mentors students from 14 years old into their mid twenties. He spends countless hours on the phone, sometimes late at night, talking people out of committing suicide or dealing with a teenagers anxieties.

Michael and Glenese are now at a point where they need our help, and so I'm asking the community, and those people who have met Michael and Glenese to help through donating to this givealittle page.