Juice of life's lemons vs cancer
Donation protected
2016 has been a year of lemons for me. So, now it is time to start juicing some of them.
I have lived in southwest Florida for 11 years, transplanting down from Ohio (40 years in Youngstown) and Illinois (10 years in Peoria) and would love to stay here.
Earlier this year my wife and I separated. I stayed in our home with our three kids while she moved out. After 24 years it appears a compatibility issue arose. I don't want to get into reasons here, this isn't the venue nor the forum for that. Suffice it to say the marriage couldn't stand the test of time. Lemon harvest #1.
Shortly after that, in anticipation of selling the monster of a house we lived in, we discovered a mold issue. One that had apparently been festering for some time unseen. Insurance came in, had a company take a look. Cut to the chase, what was supposed to be a one-week job is now on the end of a third week with no revolution in sight. Master bath now down to the studs, there's a hole in our kitchen ceiling, two humidifiers running 24/7, plastic sheeting cutting off access to parts of the home and a $1,000 deductible looming, but that's a different story from why I am posting this GFM tale. Lemon harvest #2.
Now we come to the issue at hand, my third lemon harvest for 2016. About a month ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I was poked, prodded, scanned, scoped and examined. No spread. Caught relatively early. But, I have the disease. Amongst the relatively pain-free work of some very good local doctors there also happen to be bills. Lots of them. It's expensive to have cancer. My insurance has taken a good chunk of those and my deductible has been fulfilled. However (there's ALWAYS a however) there's a little matter of the "out-of-pocket" portion of the bill. I have managed to chew that down by more than half. Leaving roughly $1,800. Paying that off is getting to be problematic, especially with the $1,000 home repair deductible, regular bills, feeding the kids, the family dog (who is on more meds than me right now, again, another story for another time) and whatever else you'd like to pile on top.
So, what I really did not want to do, since it feels to me like begging and I like to take care of my own responsibilities, is implore upon anyone who wants to toss a dollar in the hat, and can afford to do so, to please do just that. I'm trying to pay all the medical bills a little at a time and so far that's staved off the creditors. No sure how long that will continue.
I know there are others more worthy of having funds donated, people in terminal stages (I am not), or with life-altering situations worse than mine. If you'd rather donate to those, please do. I'm just looking for a few random dollars.
Once I have that sussed, and the house sold and the kids (three of them) and I situated in a smaller, more affordable home, I believe I can handle the rest of this.
In the meantime, if you have the goodness of heart to give, thank you and God bless you.;
I have lived in southwest Florida for 11 years, transplanting down from Ohio (40 years in Youngstown) and Illinois (10 years in Peoria) and would love to stay here.
Earlier this year my wife and I separated. I stayed in our home with our three kids while she moved out. After 24 years it appears a compatibility issue arose. I don't want to get into reasons here, this isn't the venue nor the forum for that. Suffice it to say the marriage couldn't stand the test of time. Lemon harvest #1.
Shortly after that, in anticipation of selling the monster of a house we lived in, we discovered a mold issue. One that had apparently been festering for some time unseen. Insurance came in, had a company take a look. Cut to the chase, what was supposed to be a one-week job is now on the end of a third week with no revolution in sight. Master bath now down to the studs, there's a hole in our kitchen ceiling, two humidifiers running 24/7, plastic sheeting cutting off access to parts of the home and a $1,000 deductible looming, but that's a different story from why I am posting this GFM tale. Lemon harvest #2.
Now we come to the issue at hand, my third lemon harvest for 2016. About a month ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I was poked, prodded, scanned, scoped and examined. No spread. Caught relatively early. But, I have the disease. Amongst the relatively pain-free work of some very good local doctors there also happen to be bills. Lots of them. It's expensive to have cancer. My insurance has taken a good chunk of those and my deductible has been fulfilled. However (there's ALWAYS a however) there's a little matter of the "out-of-pocket" portion of the bill. I have managed to chew that down by more than half. Leaving roughly $1,800. Paying that off is getting to be problematic, especially with the $1,000 home repair deductible, regular bills, feeding the kids, the family dog (who is on more meds than me right now, again, another story for another time) and whatever else you'd like to pile on top.
So, what I really did not want to do, since it feels to me like begging and I like to take care of my own responsibilities, is implore upon anyone who wants to toss a dollar in the hat, and can afford to do so, to please do just that. I'm trying to pay all the medical bills a little at a time and so far that's staved off the creditors. No sure how long that will continue.
I know there are others more worthy of having funds donated, people in terminal stages (I am not), or with life-altering situations worse than mine. If you'd rather donate to those, please do. I'm just looking for a few random dollars.
Once I have that sussed, and the house sold and the kids (three of them) and I situated in a smaller, more affordable home, I believe I can handle the rest of this.
In the meantime, if you have the goodness of heart to give, thank you and God bless you.;
Organizer
Michael Braun
Organizer
Estero, FL