Trip to Mayo Clinic

We have struggled with asking for any help with this but have had such a huge response from people who do not live close to us that would like to help that we have decided to start a fund to help pay for Joe’s trip to the Mayo Clinic. About a year and a half ago Joe started going to the Doctor (for the first time in our marriage) with what started as shortness of breath all the time. The Doctor ran several tests and could never find anything and just wrote it off as stress, which we knew wasn’t the case. So we found another, this time the Doctor really listened to him and did several more tests which gave him what we thought were some answers to some of his stomach pain but sadly before we could get any really answers the Doctor retired from the area and left. So he was passed along to a neurologist who began running all kinds of tests charging us a fortune for appointments that in our hearts we were not really getting any where he was asking all the same questions every time we went in like he was seeing us for the first time. He did have a an MRI done that showed some things and a spinal tap that came back positive for infection but the doctor knew him so well (insert sarcasm) that his response to the MRI was “that is common in men over 45” well at the time joe was only 32 in my book that is not anywhere near 45 so it immediately raised red flags for us that this doctor was not really doing an adequate job with Joe. By this time we had already been struggling to pay the bills with the amount of medical that was stacking up and our insurance decided to change their policy at the end of the year which left us with some huge medical bills that we thought would be completely covered. So we took a break from the Doctors because of our frustration and lack of money but his symptoms have been coming back pretty strongly in the last month or so, so we have started this journey again. During our time off joe was able to get a job with a trucking company to help pay the bills. He went to them and told them that he had gotten an appointment at the MAYO Clinic in August and that he would need some time off to go. Less than one week later he was fired from his job for reasons that just don’t add up and don’t make any sense at all. So now we are left trying to figure out how to pay for this very important trip, that we feel very strongly needs to happen so that we can have some answers to what is going on with Joe and his body. He has been the sole provider for our family of 8 so this has been a difficult blow to us. They have told him to expect up to 7 days for his stay and maybe longer depending on what kind of testing they want to do. So just to pay for gas alone to get there with our family is going to be over $1500 plus the time that we have to stay there and food. Joe does not want to go without his children so we are working on child care for them while we are at appointments. We want to Thank everyone for their out pouring of love and generosity and willingness to help The Love of my Life find the answers he needs to get better.