A Dad, An Amputee, A Survivor: The Kissling Family Needs You

The Crisis

Three weeks ago (November 27th, 2025), I survived a Saddle Pulmonary Embolism—a "widowmaker" blood clot blocking both main arteries to my lungs. This condition kills 30-50% of patients, many before they ever reach the hospital.

The PCP's first words when he saw my CT scan a week after: "You're very lucky to be sitting here right now."

I'm one of the lucky ones. But luck doesn't pay the bills.

I am writing this from a place I never wanted to be. I'm swallowing my pride to ask for help because my family desperately needs it.

The Kissling's Story:

I am a husband, a father to a beautiful daughter with autism, and an above-knee amputee.

My wife Kate is now my medical caregiver (managing medications, monitoring vitals, helping with recovery), our daughter Lily's full-time support (she has autism and needs constant care), and is trying to keep our household functioning. She's doing the work of three people while watching me struggle to heal from this life-threatening crisis.

How We Got Here: A Pattern of Denials

My amputation in February 2023 wasn't an accident. It was the direct result of systematic medical denials by UnitedHealthcare spanning years.

The Timeline:

2017-2018: The Stent Denial

My vascular physicians recommended a stent for May-Thurner Syndrome—an anatomical defect affecting blood flow. MRA imaging confirmed medical necessity. The stent has 80-95% patency rates for this condition.

UnitedHealthcare denied it—but only after I'd paid my out-of-pocket maximum for all the testing that proved I needed it.

2018-2019 and 2022-2023: The Apligraf Delays

UHC repeatedly delayed approval of Apligraf treatment for non-healing wounds for 17 months.

When finally approved, Apligraf healed in weeks what couldn't heal in months of delay.

Second round of wounds: Insurance delayed Apligraf again for nearly a year until the wound became infected and I no longer qualified for the treatment. This put me in the Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber to attempt to save my leg. Though it was already too late.

The Result: Emergency Amputation (February 2023)

Pathology from my amputation revealed bone that was "cuttable with a scalpel"—severe osteomyelitis caused by prolonged wound care delays.

My treating physician confirmed the amputation would NOT have been necessary with timely treatment. I was "one bad step from compound fracture and death by bleeding out" due to being on anticoagulants.

My physician stated that UHC's interference affected multiple patients and that doctors' "hands need to be untied by insurance companies."

After the Amputation: The Prosthetic Denials (2023)

When I tried to rebuild my life with a prosthetic, the denials continued.

March 2023: Physical therapy evaluation established I was K3-level (moderate to high activity)—qualifying for a microprocessor knee (MPK).

March 22, 2023: UHC changed my plan, making all my existing doctors and physical therapists out-of-network, forcing me to scramble to a new healthcare network.

July 2023: My prosthetist documented that the "learner leg" UHC forced me to use was unlocking randomly, causing multiple falls and dangerous heart rate spikes over 150 BPM.

September 2023: Updated PT evaluation showed K4-level (high activity, community ambulator)—achieved despite the broken knee mechanism. UHC denied the MPK my prosthetist prescribed, citing six criteria I had actually met.

October 2, 2023: An Independent Review Entity (Maximus Federal) immediately overturned UHC's denial with summary judgment-like finality.

The worst moment of my life:

My daughter Lily—who has autism and doesn't understand danger—became upset at a park and bolted toward a busy parking lot. I tried to run after her. The unstable learner leg nearly caused me to fall. I had to stop, remove the prosthetic entirely, and watch helplessly as another parent ran to grab her before she reached traffic.

I stood there, trapped in my own body, unable to protect my child—because UnitedHealthcare denied me the device my prosthetist prescribed.

I have never taken my daughter outside alone since that day.

2024: Retaliation

After I won my appeal and spoke publicly about what happened, UHC attempted to cancel my insurance the day I was discharged from a revision amputation surgery—a surgery necessitated by complications from the original denials.

It took intervention from Congresswoman Susan Wild's office and the Medicare Ombudsman to force UHC to restore my coverage.

Our Current Crisis

The financial damage from years of fighting UnitedHealthcare has been devastating. We paid for wheelchair ramps and home accessibility modifications out of pocket—costs that were never reimbursed and drained our savings.

Now, three weeks post-Pulmonary Embolism, I'm fighting for my life again.

I'm on blood thinners, twice-daily injections, with ongoing monitoring for right ventricular strain as the clots slowly dissolve. The supplement, Taurine, that was managing my pain better than Gabapentin ever did, took my already rapid metabolism for the anticoagulant, and threw it into hyper-drive. Basically turning the medicine off. Every physical activity—walking to the bathroom, climbing stairs, basic household tasks—spikes my heart rate to dangerous levels and sets back my recovery due to the strain to the right ventricle of my heart. I cannot work. I cannot help Kate with Lily's care. I can barely manage my own basic needs without medical supervision.

Kate, my wife, is drowning she must be Lily's caregiver, and is trying to maintain our household alone while working as a Social worker. The physical and emotional toll is unsustainable.

What We're Asking For

We're raising $20,000 to get our family through this crisis and into stability:

$9,600 - Household help ($800/month for 12 months) to take the physical burden off Kate while I recover

$6,000 - Recover costs of wheelchair ramp and accessibility modifications that insurance never reimbursed

$2,400 - Emergency financial buffer while I'm unable to work and heal from this PE

$2,000 - For travel expenses to pursue answers at John Hopkins Health Network, which is 4 hours away by car, as local health networks have referred us there.

Every dollar helps. Even $10 makes a difference to a family that's been fighting this hard for this long.

What Comes Next: Paying It Forward

Once I'm healed and our family is stable, I'm launching AbilityForge.net—a comprehensive platform to help other patients document insurance denials, understand their rights, and fight back against systematic harm.

I've spent years learning how to navigate this broken system. I won my appeal against UHC. I documented the causal chain from denial to permanent disability. I learned what works and what doesn't.

I want to use that hard-won knowledge to help families like mine avoid what we've been through. I want to turn our suffering into tools that protect others.

But first, I need to survive this crisis. I need my family to heal. I need to give Kate the support she deserves instead of being another burden she carries.

The Ask

I spent years fighting for my life against a corporation that put profits over patients. I won some battles. I lost others. I lost my leg. I nearly lost my life.

Now I'm asking for something different: not a fight, but a hand. A community willing to help my family heal while I recover from this latest crisis.

If you've ever felt powerless against a system that doesn't care about you, if you've ever needed help and someone showed up—please, be that person for my family today.

Share this with anyone who might care

Donate if you can—every amount matters

Pray for us—we need all the support we can get

More on how healthcare networks are fighting this problem, ongoing investigations, and advocacy-related articles can be found in the AbilityForge Archive.

Thank you for reading our story. Thank you for caring. Thank you for helping us heal.

With gratitude and hope,

Michael, Kate, and Lily Kissling