I am writing this for my mom, Brenda.  She is a proud and amazing woman, who is struggling a lot with her health right now.  I know my mom hates that she is in a position in which she is forced to ask for help, but sadly life has not given her many options as of late.

My mom has been in the hospital several times over the last week or so for failing liver, kidneys, and a non-existent thyroid.  She has been a diabetic for years, but had it under control.  A couple of weeks ago, a week or so before my wedding, she started feeling and acting unlike herself.  This was very reminiscent of what my grandmother had gone through a couple years prior, right before she passed.  My sister, dad, and I (along with aunts, uncles, friends, etc. ) pushed my mom to go to the doctor.  The stubborn woman my mother is refused to go before my wedding. The day came and went, and she was miserable.  She looked yellow, couldn't walk, couldn't talk, and was a shell of herself.  Finally, a day after the wedding things got bad enough and my dad took my mom into urgent care.  After looking her over, the hospital had her transported by ambulance to a different, better equipped hospital.  She was in extreme pain at this point, and my dad said he thought he was losing her at this point.  Ultimately my mom was diagnosed with several different conditions, requiring over a dozen medications.

Add to this blow, my mom has no health insurance.  She quite her job a couple of years back to take care of my grandparents who passed within 18 months of each other.  My mom tried to go back to work, but her health was a constant yo-yo after her parents passing. My dad was retired at the time, and has since gone back to work to help make ends meet.  He is in his late sixties, and the hardest working man I know.  My mom and dad will have health insurance very soon, but it will be too late to apply.  It is because of all these financial hardships that my parents were forced to file for bankruptcy this last year, before my mom got sick this most recent time.  My mom is too sick to work now, and my dad has been forced to choose between food and medications at times. 

It is with a heavy heart and swallowed pride that they ask for help with my mom's medical bills.  My sister and I can only contribute so much, and it just isn't enough to stop collections at this point.  Any donation is a dollar my parents don't have to worry about, and as a family we humbly accept and appreciate any donation.

Thank you for your time,

The Bowes, Stanley, and Miller families