Kevin's Recovery Fund
Donation protected
On August 8, while attending the 50th Anniversary Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas with his brother, my husband, Kevin, fell into a diabetic coma. While in the ER at University Medical Center, he began having seizures, so doctors sedated him, maintaining him in the coma for another day. It took nearly a week to get him breathing well enough on his own to remove him from the ventilator. Doctors determined that Kevin had encephalitis, which had caused lesions on his brain.
After nine days in the ICU and three days in the medical ward, Kevin was tranferred to Summerlin Hopital's Rehabilitation Unit, where he's been for the last seven days. He is undergoing intensive physical, occupational and speech therapy. He is expected to continue in-patient therapy for at least another week, followed by long-term out-patient therapy.
The great news is the Kevin was diagnosed with posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome, and the expectation is that he will make a full recovery. The bad news is that the recovery can take up to a year.
Unfortunately, even with good medical insurance, the financial repercussions will be substantial. Kevin was three months from forced retirement. In preparation for that, I had recently accepted a job in Houston, so we were temporarily supporting households in Chicago and Houston. Of course, I immediately flew to his side (without the luxury of time to search for a low airfare) and have also been incurring the ongoing expenses associated with temporarily living in a hotel in Las Vegas.
To make matters worse, we were planning to build a home in Houston, but due to Kevin's medical condition, the builder has pulled the contract and is keeping our escrow money. There is now no specific plan for where we will live in Houston once Kevin can be moved there; my current third-floor, walk-up studio apartment is not an option.
Funds are needed to help cover all those costs, as well as the ongoing medical expenses that will not be covered by insurance.
Certainly there are people in the world with more dire circumstances, but the timing of his serious illness while out of town, along with his long-term medical needs during recovery, with his retirement pending, has created a precarious financial situation for Kevin and me, just when we thought we had attained a modicum of financial security heading into the future.
Our family and friends have been wonderful in providing moral support to us during this ordeal, and it is greatly appreciated. We know we are blessed. Likewise, any small monetary help that you can provide to assist us through the financial challenges will never be forgotten.
After nine days in the ICU and three days in the medical ward, Kevin was tranferred to Summerlin Hopital's Rehabilitation Unit, where he's been for the last seven days. He is undergoing intensive physical, occupational and speech therapy. He is expected to continue in-patient therapy for at least another week, followed by long-term out-patient therapy.
The great news is the Kevin was diagnosed with posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome, and the expectation is that he will make a full recovery. The bad news is that the recovery can take up to a year.
Unfortunately, even with good medical insurance, the financial repercussions will be substantial. Kevin was three months from forced retirement. In preparation for that, I had recently accepted a job in Houston, so we were temporarily supporting households in Chicago and Houston. Of course, I immediately flew to his side (without the luxury of time to search for a low airfare) and have also been incurring the ongoing expenses associated with temporarily living in a hotel in Las Vegas.
To make matters worse, we were planning to build a home in Houston, but due to Kevin's medical condition, the builder has pulled the contract and is keeping our escrow money. There is now no specific plan for where we will live in Houston once Kevin can be moved there; my current third-floor, walk-up studio apartment is not an option.
Funds are needed to help cover all those costs, as well as the ongoing medical expenses that will not be covered by insurance.
Certainly there are people in the world with more dire circumstances, but the timing of his serious illness while out of town, along with his long-term medical needs during recovery, with his retirement pending, has created a precarious financial situation for Kevin and me, just when we thought we had attained a modicum of financial security heading into the future.
Our family and friends have been wonderful in providing moral support to us during this ordeal, and it is greatly appreciated. We know we are blessed. Likewise, any small monetary help that you can provide to assist us through the financial challenges will never be forgotten.
Organizer
Briget Biernat Jans
Organizer
Chicago, IL
