Hello and thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this. 

In 1993 my father, Bill, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Over the last few years the disease has started to take its toll on his body. He developed diabetic neuropathy in his toes and parts of his feet. This has caused diabetic ulcers on his toes that take several months to heal, because he cannot feel when his shoes rub on his toes. They take a long time to heal because that is another side effect of diabetes. 

The last year could be described as a series of unfortunate events. It started in Janurary of 2015 when he had pneumonia. When he recovered from that, his work hours got cut to part time because his work was slow. He also doesn't get paid sick time off or pto, so anytime he has to miss work he doesn't get paid. Then in April, our horse severly cut her nose and required over 100 stitches. Fast forward two more weeks, and my dad noticed a blister on one of his toes. This was after he had worked all weekend at a horse show. He works the shows to help offset the cost of the horseshows and to give us a little extra money. This is the first experience he had with the diabetic ulcers, but unfortunately it wasn't his last. That required weekly, sometimes twice weekly trips to the wound clinic. He spent two months in a cast to reduce pressure on his toe. The cast had to be changed sometimes twice weekly. 

In May of 2015, my mom tripped and severly sprained her ankle. She was in a walking boot for 4 weeks. Because of the deductible not being met for my mom, that meant that she had to pay out of pocket for her walking boot, which cost over $600. 

Fast forward again to June of 2015, we discovered that I had OCD in both of my ankles, along with tendonitis. Again, because my deductible wasn't met,  we had to pay out of pocket for my appointments and treatments. 

Then in October of 2015 my mother finds out that she needs to have a hysterectomy. She had the outpatient surgery in December. That resulted in more medical bills. Because of Bill being in a cast for a few months, it threw his back out of alignment. The day after my mom came home from the hospital, my dad had to go to the ER because his back pain was unbearable. The ER doctors thought he slipped a disc, but without an MRI they couldn't be sure. Because of all the outstanding medical bills, my dad decided to wait on the MRI. The ER visit has a higher deductible. 

Fast forward again to May of 2016. My mom bought new shoes for my dad, because his special diabetic shoes were beginning to fall apart. He wore those shoes for 3 days, then he developed another diabetic ulcer, because the shoes rubbed on his toe, but he couldn't feel it because of the neuropathy. The doctor used a topical medication on his toe that had sulfa in it. My dad is alergic to sulfa, so he asked the doctor if it would be safe to use. She claimed that it would be, since it was topical. Turns out, that it wasn't fine to use, because after using the cream for 3 days, he had exposed bone on the tip of his toe. That began another saga of twice weekly visits to the wound clinic. Unfortunatly, he developed a bone infection that resisted treatment. The doctors tried everything that they could, but the mri showed infection had set into the bone, and even broke part of the bone. My dad got a second opinion. The next week the new doctor amputated three quarters of his big toe. After the surgery, he had to be part time for 3 weeks. Before the toe infection began, my dad got a part time job cleaning at a car dealership to help make ends meet. Unfortunatly he had to quit that job, as his doctor said that he needed to be off his feet as much as possible. 

To top everything else off, in August we had to have our roof redone. The shingles that got used previously we defective and started to decompose on the roof. The settlement check was only for $600. So my mom had to take a loan out of her 401k in order to pay for them before winter hit, so the roof wouldn't leak more than it already was. 

That brings us to today, he is fighting yet another diabetic ulcer on his other foot. He has had 3 skin grafts thus far, and will need several more before it will be completely healed. He is still having weekly doctor visits to clean and dress the wound. He will need to keep doing this for atleast another 6 weeks, possibly more depending on how the wound heals. 

My dad is usually not one to ask for help, but at this time he really needs it. He is always the first person to help people with anything. He spends many hours volunteering his time with 4-H and Saddle Up for St. Jude. He spends many nights out at the fairgrounds watching the area to make sure all the kids are safe while they ride at night. He would give the shirt off his back to anyone that needed it. 

He will be extemely grateful for any help that he gets to get him thru this financial crisis. When we are in the position to be so, we will certainly pay it forward. Please share with your friends. Even if you aren't able to donate, please keep him in your prayers. 

Thanks, 

Nina