I have always been a person who has had little trouble giving, but receiving and asking for help from others has always been another thing. But this time is different.
While our medical system in the US is by far the best in the world, even if you have insurance, it can be very expensive for the patient with the co-pays in a catastrophic illness or injury.
The year 2011 has been a difficult, yet eventful year for me. Doctors still can’t explain my near-death experience in January when all the systems in my body began to shut-down and fail…heart, brain, kidneys, liver, digestive system, plus malnutrition and dehydration. At one point I was given anywhere from a few hours to six months to live. I was able to recover quickly due to the efforts of the medical staff, and even though I have Medicare supplemental insurance, there are still several hundred dollars in co-pays.
At 7:40 p.m. on March first a tow truck coming down the mountain I live on lost it’s brakes and slammed into the apartment building I live in at 85 m.p.h., losing its load of a minivan and injuring two of the three people riding in the truck. Three apartments were destroyed (fortunately not mine, and more amazingly no one in the apartments hit was injured) forcing all the tenants to move out as the building was temporarily condemned until it could be thoroughly inspected. I had to move into a motel and eat all my meals out for eleven days. Besides the manager of the complex, I am the only tenant with renter’s insurance. While the insurance covered a great deal of the expenses, there is still a deductible and uncovered things to pay for.
But God was not finished with me. On April 27th I woke up and the nail on my big toe on my right foot was a dark gray. Over the next four days the nail got darker, turning back and getting very soft and bloody. On May 2nd I decided to see if I could get a fill-in appointment with my podiatrist, but as I was dialing the telephone number I collapsed. While unconscious I somehow got from my desk across the living room to the front door, and somehow dialed 911. I was told later that I was so close to the door they had trouble getting in past me. They couldn’t revive me, loaded me into an ambulance and drove me about three miles to a waiting medical helicopter. I came to in the air (even though you don’t know what’s going on or where you are going, it’s still pretty neat to be flying like that) on my way to the University of Tennessee Medical Center. After I arrived in the emergency room, a doctor put his face down close to mine and said, “I am either going to have to cut off your leg, or you are going to die very soon. You have 15 seconds to decide.” I resisted until I could talk to my own primary care doctor, who I trust implicitly. We talked about ten minutes and I decided to have the leg removed.
After the surgery I spent nearly a month in the hospital, and then was moved to a good rehabilitation center. Again, while I have insurance to cover the bulk of the cost, I still have a co-pay of $100 per day that I am in rehab. I have a 100-day limit, and it is expected I will need that entire time to recover. The process of getting fitted for and learning how to use a prosthetic leg has started, that also has a major co-pay that covers 20% of the cost of the leg and follow-up care. One-hundred days at $100 per day amounts to $10,000 in co-pays, plus whatever other expenses I don’t know about.
So I made the decision to try to raise as much as I can through this website and any other means possible. My goal is $15,000 and whatever you can afford to donate will be greatly appreciated. In the event there is any left over after I pay all the bills, any residue will be donated to the Salvation Army.
To make a donation go to Can You Help Me, Now? where you make a donation using PayPal, plus there are instructions on what to do if you would rather send a check.
Whatever amount you can afford, even if its just a dollar, it is greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance.
God bless you and thank you for your time and donation.
