Fund Jay and Kim's Medical and Home Expenses
Donation protected
Hi, my name is Ashley, and I hope you can help my family. Unfortunately, my mom and stepdad have been extremely sick for almost a year. They have maxed out all their credit cards for doctor appointments and life-saving medication.
My mom and Jay are genuinely the most deserving people I know, and watching them struggle hurts me so much. Please, if there is anything you can do to help out, it will forever change my family's lives.
Please share this with your family and friends; anything will help at this time.
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Jay and Kim’s Story...
Jay’s entire life was changed on January 11, 2021. He was one of the first to receive the Pfizer vaccine at the nursing home he worked at. He was a maintenance tech who ran up and down stairs and did physical work. He wanted to protect the residents and do his part in the pandemic.
Within 48 hours, he began with a debilitating chronic migraine that lasted 8 weeks. It was broken twice by a migraine cocktail, only to return in less than 12 hours. He was admitted to Penn State Hershey with pneumonia and chest pains. He tested at least twice a week and continually during this time and never tested positive. The vaccine damaged his vagus nerve and pituitary gland. He is on lifelong steroid therapy, developed gastroparesis, takes medications to handle chronic migraines and deals with increased nerve pain from pre-existing conditions in his neck that have been exacerbated.
He has chronic fatigue, which can cause him to lose days to sleeping all day and nights to insomnia. Sometimes sleeping 23 hours straight, sometimes having insomnia and up all night, days and nights get mixed no matter how hard he tries. He gets fatigued very easily and is dependent on oxygen anytime he is sleeping due to drops in oxygen which are not safe. Jay was terminated from work without any notice via a phone call. Jay is up and down from day to day. Some days he can mow the grass or do a chore; sometimes, it will take weeks before he feels well enough to do so. He will have a few up days and then follow that with 10 days of being unable to do things.
Kim has dealt with autoimmune diseases since 1996. She could always work and maintain life until November 9, 2021, when severe pain started in her right side. This pain has never stopped and has stumped almost all doctors. She has been through a tremendous number of specialists and tests. During this time, she has been on high-dose steroids and been through cdiff three times and a flare of her Crohn’s/Ulcerative Colitis. She has had a liver biopsy with complications While going through this journey, she has been found to have been diagnosed with gastroparesis, Sjogren’s Syndrome, Secondary Addison’s Disease and has found many issues with her back that cause debilitating pain. These are new in addition to other pre-existing conditions, Crohn’s, Ulcerative Colitis, Hypothyroidism from Hashimotos Thyroiditis, PCOS, Psoriasis, Autoimmune Arthritis, Sacroilitis, Sleep Apnea, Fibromyalgia, etc. Kim was terminated from her position as Office Manager effective May 31, 2022, via a certified letter. Kim held insurance for them both, and that ended with her job. This required Jay and Kim to get marketplace insurance with high out-of-pocket co-pays and sometimes out-of-network providers. Their deductible started over on January 1st and the out of pocket costs are more than they can handle.
She is now in a severe Crohn’s flare. She was recently hospitalized for most of December in two different hospitals.
Why help is needed:
They are doing everything they can to improve by following doctors’ instructions, taking new medications, doing home therapy, and trying different food choices. They will not give up, but they need help to keep going and live in their home. The landlord recently raised the rent by $200 a month, but due to their health issues and the increased rental costs, it wouldn’t benefit them to move. The house is a rancher which is necessary for Kim’s mobility needs. They have a rigorous diet due to gastroparesis and other health issues; they are happy to use food banks, but often, many of those foods are not foods they can have. They need High Protein shakes daily and are trying to get them covered by insurance or Ensure. They are costly and have risen tremendously lately.
Often medical appointments are an hour to 90 minutes away, and the cost of gas has been an issue. They both have upcoming procedures and surgeries scheduled for 2023. These issues are not going away anytime soon. Jay’s doctors are still learning the effects from the vaccine, and it is not likely he will ever return to pre-vaccine, so he is learning to live with his new “normal.” He is currently in the appeal process with Social Security Disability. He will be tested in March 2023 for POTS. He was to be tested in December, but was too ill to attend.
Kim’s doctors are testing for rare diseases and cancers and exhausting every avenue of testing to find the reason for this pain. Unfortunately, her other medical conditions are lifelong and chronic, and they are trying medications to find some sort of “remission.” As a result, Kim will be applying for Social Security Disability in 2023.
In one-week, out-of-pocket medical expenses were $375, and only a small amount was left on one credit card. At that point, they realized they needed help from others.
They are growing what they can on their own and trying to cut costs however possible. They make their dog food homemade, make everything from scratch that they can and try to combine errands and appointments to save gas, which can lead to long exhausting days.
How your support helps:
• Medical Bills, Prescriptions, Mobility Aides, OTC medicines/supplements, Co-Pay/Deductibles
• This will allow them to continue getting medical care, sustain household bills, and pay down medical debt.
• They are on a fixed income and unable to work. Jay has been disabled since January 2021 from a vaccine injury. Kim has been out of work/disabled since January 2022. A pain that began in November 2021 and has yet to be discovered. Their income was cut to 60%, and insurance was $1,000 a month for an entire year, as Kim put Jay on her policy after he was terminated. The medical bills continue to grow as well as credit card debt for medical expenses, groceries, etc. It’s up to around $30,000.00. They have never had credit card debt but were forced to put the costs on them in order to sustain themselves.
• Kim needs aqua therapy and pelvic floor therapy and cannot afford the $45 per visit co-pay. She is confined to a bed and the recliner every day, other than getting up for short periods of time to do simple household chores, and, hopefully, this would give her some mobility back.
• The mower is not working currently, and it’s been a struggle for Jay to keep trying to work on it and get the yard mowed. Money to repair or replace the mower would be a massive break for next season.
• Gift cards to Walmart, Giant (PA) and Aldi would help with groceries, medicatios, and household supplies.
• Amazon Wish List – Some items are medically needed, and some are to keep busy while sitting around a lot. Kim crochets for gifts/charity and hopefully a few sales to help pay down some debt. Crochet helps distract her from the pain and makes her feel worthwhile while “resting.” Donations of items that are used that are on these list are greatly appreciated. They use the craft supplies to make things to help pay the bills.
Their site is https://www.facebook.com/thecraftypyles if you would like to help support them this way.
Amazon Medical Wish List
Amazon Fun/Business Wish List
Walmart Registry
If you have made it down here, I want to thank you! Please share this with your family and friends if you cannot donate anything. Anything will help at this time.
Co-organisers (2)
Ashley Eyler
Organiser
Taneytown, MD
Kimberly Pyles
Co-organiser