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Hello, everyone! Thank you for taking the time to visit this page and hear our story.
In July 2004, I had to rush my husband, Roger, to the emergency room and he was quickly diagnosed with pancreatitis. It would later be determined that the causes for this attack were high triglycerides and diabetes, which he did not know he had. He was in ICU for a week with a chest tube because of the levels of medication and IV fluids he needed; then he was moved to a private room for another two weeks. It would be another couple months of recuperation before he could return to work full time. From this point on our lives would never be the same. Constant doctors' visits and medication were required to continue controlling ongoing abdominal pain as well as for his new diagnoses for diabetes, high triglycerides and other issues from this point forward.
In October 2006, just 12 days after the birth of our youngest son, Roger suffered a myocardial infarction. He was sent to the cath lab at the hospital and they found a blockage in his circumflex coronary artery and was able to open it with a stent. He came out of the procedure with the doctor assessing that there was "little to no damage" to his heart, which was a great relief. His medications were updated to include heart disease and high blood pressure.
Another blow would come at the end of 2008 and stretch well into 2009. Roger's digestive problems worsened. Things got so bad that he had to take a leave of absence from his job and would eventually be out completely for about seven months. He was so sick, that he had to have a Life Port placed so that he could easily receive fluids and medications as he was dehydrating faster than he could replace the fluids on his own. He was hospitalized several times and I even had to take him to a specialist at UNC-Chapel Hill, 300 miles away from us, without getting a whole lot of answers.
It was eventually discovered that some of the medications he was given for years caused gastroparesis, causing his stomach to basically become paralyzed. This was aggravated by a diagnosis by a super-specialist at the Medical University of South Carolina of cyclical vomiting syndrome, something that no one really knows anything about. After a change in doctors and medications, he was able to recover and slowly was able to return to his job again.
For the most part, things have stabilized since then. His diabetes has been hard to control so he eventually was put on an insulin pump. It has done the most to help but when he's ill, even that doesn't keep his numbers very low. He now also has to sleep with a CPAP machine to negate sleep apnea. He still will have random attacks of tachycardia, which have required almost annual trips to the cath lab to ensure his heart and the stent are okay.
Occasional trips to the hospital to keep his fluids up and to recheck his heart and stent have become the norm around here and our children have never known a father that hasn't been ill. They have grown up watching him go in and out of the hospital.
More recently, the cyclical vomiting syndrome is back. He does not have gastroparesis this time so we cannot guess how long this will last. He is now officially on another medical leave of absence from his job; however, because of all the time he has had to take off since the beginning of 2014, he does not have any personal paid leave available to apply towards his one week waiting period before his short term disability policy kicks in. On top of that, there will likely be a delay of another week or so before we get the first check (this happened in 2009).
This will create a major problem for us as we have rent coming due soon and need to get a couple of bills paid. We will also need money for food and gas as well as any medical expenses that we may need to pay out of pocket. We are hoping that this will not last more than a month or so, but we truly cannot know. We just need some help to get over this hump where there will be no income whatsoever waiting for disability to kick in. Any help that anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated, as is sharing our story in as many places as you can: Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Diaspora and more.
Thank you for your time and help.
In July 2004, I had to rush my husband, Roger, to the emergency room and he was quickly diagnosed with pancreatitis. It would later be determined that the causes for this attack were high triglycerides and diabetes, which he did not know he had. He was in ICU for a week with a chest tube because of the levels of medication and IV fluids he needed; then he was moved to a private room for another two weeks. It would be another couple months of recuperation before he could return to work full time. From this point on our lives would never be the same. Constant doctors' visits and medication were required to continue controlling ongoing abdominal pain as well as for his new diagnoses for diabetes, high triglycerides and other issues from this point forward.
In October 2006, just 12 days after the birth of our youngest son, Roger suffered a myocardial infarction. He was sent to the cath lab at the hospital and they found a blockage in his circumflex coronary artery and was able to open it with a stent. He came out of the procedure with the doctor assessing that there was "little to no damage" to his heart, which was a great relief. His medications were updated to include heart disease and high blood pressure.
Another blow would come at the end of 2008 and stretch well into 2009. Roger's digestive problems worsened. Things got so bad that he had to take a leave of absence from his job and would eventually be out completely for about seven months. He was so sick, that he had to have a Life Port placed so that he could easily receive fluids and medications as he was dehydrating faster than he could replace the fluids on his own. He was hospitalized several times and I even had to take him to a specialist at UNC-Chapel Hill, 300 miles away from us, without getting a whole lot of answers.
It was eventually discovered that some of the medications he was given for years caused gastroparesis, causing his stomach to basically become paralyzed. This was aggravated by a diagnosis by a super-specialist at the Medical University of South Carolina of cyclical vomiting syndrome, something that no one really knows anything about. After a change in doctors and medications, he was able to recover and slowly was able to return to his job again.
For the most part, things have stabilized since then. His diabetes has been hard to control so he eventually was put on an insulin pump. It has done the most to help but when he's ill, even that doesn't keep his numbers very low. He now also has to sleep with a CPAP machine to negate sleep apnea. He still will have random attacks of tachycardia, which have required almost annual trips to the cath lab to ensure his heart and the stent are okay.
Occasional trips to the hospital to keep his fluids up and to recheck his heart and stent have become the norm around here and our children have never known a father that hasn't been ill. They have grown up watching him go in and out of the hospital.
More recently, the cyclical vomiting syndrome is back. He does not have gastroparesis this time so we cannot guess how long this will last. He is now officially on another medical leave of absence from his job; however, because of all the time he has had to take off since the beginning of 2014, he does not have any personal paid leave available to apply towards his one week waiting period before his short term disability policy kicks in. On top of that, there will likely be a delay of another week or so before we get the first check (this happened in 2009).
This will create a major problem for us as we have rent coming due soon and need to get a couple of bills paid. We will also need money for food and gas as well as any medical expenses that we may need to pay out of pocket. We are hoping that this will not last more than a month or so, but we truly cannot know. We just need some help to get over this hump where there will be no income whatsoever waiting for disability to kick in. Any help that anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated, as is sharing our story in as many places as you can: Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Diaspora and more.
Thank you for your time and help.
Organizer
Reagen Dandridge Desilets
Organizer
Hanahan, SC
