A Van for Van

My dad, Van, has been diagnosed with PSP - Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.  Never heard of it, right?  Not many people have.  PSP is rare: no one even realized it existed until 1963!  PSP is a progressive brain disease with no known cause or cure. It affects brain cells that control balance, walking, coordination, eye movement, speech, swallowing and thinking. Five to six people in 100,000 have PSP.  My dad was diagnosed with PSP about 2 years ago.  The name of the disease includes the word “progressive” because, unfortunately, the early symptoms get worse and new symptoms develop over time. After five or six years, on average, the imbalance and stiffness worsen to make walking very difficult or impossible. Trouble with eyesight eventually develops in almost all cases and can sometimes be as disabling as the movement difficulty.  

There are some medications that can help with symptoms, but no one medication does it all.  In the past 20 years, many drugs have been tested in patients with PSP. Some of these are intended to actually slow the long-term brain cell loss; i.e., slow progression of the disease. Unfortunately, none has helped.  Feeding tubes are common when patients begin aspirating, which is the stage in which my dad finds himself now.  He is not currently on a feeding tube, but the frequency he is aspirating means that a feeding tube is not far off.

At this point, my dad is wheelchair bound.  My mom is a retired nurse and does an amazing job to care for him entirely on her own.  She is such a trooper!  However, as his condition has progressed, it has become impossible for her to get him in and out of the car for things he enjoys, like church, and for things he needs, like medical appointments.    My parents need a wheelchair accessible van, so that my dad doesn't have to be transferred from his wheelchair to the car and back into the chair.  Without this, my dad is confined to his home with no physical contact to the outside world.  My sister lives out of state and I am nearly two hours away from my parents.  My parents can no longer travel due to the lack of mobility.  My parents need a van as soon as possible.

Both of my parents are retired and with their limited income, combined with the medical bills - my dad has been admitted to the hospital 10 times in the last 15 months - financing a new (or even used) vehicle is impossible.  They also find it difficult to ask for help.  Please consider donating to this cause.  Whatever funds are raised will go first towards an accessible van, and any remaining for the medical bills that continue to add up.  If anyone has the ability to just donate a van, that would be amazing as well.

If you would like more information about PSP, you can visit this website  https://www.psp.org.  In addition, here is a video showing one family's story.  This is not our family, but certainly mirrors what we are going through.  Please consider helping my parents.  Thank you so much!