Casey’s Illness Before our Wedding
Donation protected
Hi! I’m Casey Kennedy, and I’m marrying my best friend Robbie next month. We’ve been together for 7 years. Family and friends from across the country are coming to help us celebrate our marriage on August 11 - So excited!
I’m a speech-language pathologist. I work mostly with older adults, helping them learn to speak again after having a stroke. I work in nursing homes and retirement communities across the city. Robbie works at a print shop.
WHAT HAPPENED
On June 17, I thought I came down with the flu. I had a few days of high fever, vomiting, nausea, etc. I went to the doctor who ran some tests.
A few days later, my results came back positive for a bacterial infection called Shigella, which I may have contracted from one of my patients.
That same day I got a call from Toronto Public Health. Because I’m a healthcare worker, they issued a mandatory stop work order – I’m legally not allowed to work until I test negative for Shigella.
I took antibiotics for a week, and then did the test again. When the results came back another week later, we found out the treatment didn't work - I still had Shigella. This time, the results showed it was highly resistant to antibiotics – there was only one antibiotic that might treat it, and it has to be administered by IV.
I now have an IV in my arm, and every day this week I go to an outpatient clinic and get hooked up to a machine to receive my antibiotics. Today is day #3. Fingers crossed that this works. When the next results come back on July 23, I’ll know if I can return to work.
THE COSTS
In total, I’ll be off work for at least 5 weeks, unpaid. Maybe longer.
Even if the results come back as negative on July 23, I’ve had to give up my caseload to my colleagues. This means that whenever I can return to work, it will take me several weeks of working to build back up to a full-time caseload. I will still have several weeks of very little pay, and I likely won’t have a full paycheck again until October.
Because I’m an independent contractor, I only get paid for visiting patients. I don’t get paid sick days or paid vacations. I don’t get paid medical leave. I can’t apply for EI (Employment Insurance), short term disability, or WSIB (Workers’ Compensation). As soon as I stopped seeing patients in mid-June, my income immediately dropped to $0.
We already live almost paycheck to paycheck due to high student debt payments. Over the past year, most of our extra money has been going to the wedding. We had a small amount available in a line of credit which would have been enough to cover final wedding expenses, but now we’re going to have to use that just to pay rent and bills, and still won’t have enough.
All together, this loss of work will cost us about $8,000.
Monetary gifts we receive at the wedding will likely go toward a small honeymoon we had already booked. Nothing fancy, just 3 nights in an Airbnb in Boston on our drive back from Fredericton. We’ve looked into cancelling, but the deposit is non-refundable.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
We’re not sure how we’re going to pay the remaining costs for our wedding, let alone our rent for the next 2-3 months, other than from the kindness of friends and family, and cash advances on a high-interest emergency credit card.
Everyone struggles to pay for a wedding. And everyone struggles to pay bills during a lengthy illness. But having them overlap is a uniquely challenging situation.
We can’t express how grateful we’d be for your support. We know that everyone is strapped for cash, but donating even $5, or sharing the link with your social network, would mean so much.
Thank you so much for your time.
Love, Casey and Robbie
I’m a speech-language pathologist. I work mostly with older adults, helping them learn to speak again after having a stroke. I work in nursing homes and retirement communities across the city. Robbie works at a print shop.
WHAT HAPPENED
On June 17, I thought I came down with the flu. I had a few days of high fever, vomiting, nausea, etc. I went to the doctor who ran some tests.
A few days later, my results came back positive for a bacterial infection called Shigella, which I may have contracted from one of my patients.
That same day I got a call from Toronto Public Health. Because I’m a healthcare worker, they issued a mandatory stop work order – I’m legally not allowed to work until I test negative for Shigella.
I took antibiotics for a week, and then did the test again. When the results came back another week later, we found out the treatment didn't work - I still had Shigella. This time, the results showed it was highly resistant to antibiotics – there was only one antibiotic that might treat it, and it has to be administered by IV.
I now have an IV in my arm, and every day this week I go to an outpatient clinic and get hooked up to a machine to receive my antibiotics. Today is day #3. Fingers crossed that this works. When the next results come back on July 23, I’ll know if I can return to work.
THE COSTS
In total, I’ll be off work for at least 5 weeks, unpaid. Maybe longer.
Even if the results come back as negative on July 23, I’ve had to give up my caseload to my colleagues. This means that whenever I can return to work, it will take me several weeks of working to build back up to a full-time caseload. I will still have several weeks of very little pay, and I likely won’t have a full paycheck again until October.
Because I’m an independent contractor, I only get paid for visiting patients. I don’t get paid sick days or paid vacations. I don’t get paid medical leave. I can’t apply for EI (Employment Insurance), short term disability, or WSIB (Workers’ Compensation). As soon as I stopped seeing patients in mid-June, my income immediately dropped to $0.
We already live almost paycheck to paycheck due to high student debt payments. Over the past year, most of our extra money has been going to the wedding. We had a small amount available in a line of credit which would have been enough to cover final wedding expenses, but now we’re going to have to use that just to pay rent and bills, and still won’t have enough.
All together, this loss of work will cost us about $8,000.
Monetary gifts we receive at the wedding will likely go toward a small honeymoon we had already booked. Nothing fancy, just 3 nights in an Airbnb in Boston on our drive back from Fredericton. We’ve looked into cancelling, but the deposit is non-refundable.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
We’re not sure how we’re going to pay the remaining costs for our wedding, let alone our rent for the next 2-3 months, other than from the kindness of friends and family, and cash advances on a high-interest emergency credit card.
Everyone struggles to pay for a wedding. And everyone struggles to pay bills during a lengthy illness. But having them overlap is a uniquely challenging situation.
We can’t express how grateful we’d be for your support. We know that everyone is strapped for cash, but donating even $5, or sharing the link with your social network, would mean so much.
Thank you so much for your time.
Love, Casey and Robbie
Organizer
Casey Kennedy
Organizer
Toronto, ON
