Adrienne Biagioli Condo Loss and Medical Bills

Adrienne Biagioli (my mom) and I are among the 48 condo homeowners from Waukesha, WI who lost our home on Thursday, December 2nd when the Horizon West Condos were condemned as structurally unsound. 

 

This has been challenging year for my mother and this has taken the cake.

 

Mom spent all of 2020 preparing for a hip replacement surgery. On her doctor's recommendation she needed to get healthier and lose weight in order to increase her post operative success. She got to work. She didn’t follow any fad diets, she put in the time and got healthier and healthier 1% at a time. She achieved her goal and met all of the doctors recommendations. Right around the time that we would be scheduling her hip replacement, in late November of 2020, she began having some severe stomach pain. On December 2nd, 2020, they discovered a 18cm cyst in her uterus on her CT scan. It was determined that she would need an emergency hysterectomy. She got through all of her pre-op appointments in less than a week and went into surgery on December 10th 2020. 

 

When the surgeons went in to remove the cyst, pathology determined that the cyst was cancerous. It had engulfed her uterus and had spread into her appendix, 4 areas of her intestines and into the lymph nodes. After they completed the hysterectomy they were able to bring in a surgical specialist who concentrates on the digestive tract and they spent an additional 1.5 hours removing  4 pieces of her intestines. Mom's anticipated single-day surgery turned into an 8-day hospital stay. 

 

Mom needed to be completely healed from this surgery before she was able to begin chemotherapy in January of 2021.

 

After 6 rounds of chemotherapy, the medical team did a scan only to find out that the chemo had not worked and many of the cancer cells had grown back. Mom had attributed the pain and discomfort she was feeling in her abdomen to the chemo, when in reality it was the cancer growing and invading her body again. This summer she had a 10 day hospital stay in order to try and control the pain and allow her bowels to begin to work again after the cancer started to obstruct her digestive system.

 

 

 

She was then approved for a targeted cancer therapy. After 3 rounds, she had a scan and she received the first good news in a year, it was WORKING! The doctors moved forward with 3 more treatments and after another scan in September we found out that the good news was short lived and that the stubborn cancer was yet again growing.

 

On to her doctor’s third plan and another type of chemotherapy scheduled to start on December 7th. Then our already challenging time increased exponentially.

 

A year to the day after her cancer diagnosis and 4 days before she was scheduled to start the next type of chemotherapy, on December 2nd, we were evacuated from our home without notice. At 8:30pm the police and fire department showed up pounding at our door to tell us that we had 15 minutes to gather everything we absolutely NEEDED and then we had to get out. We were told that we would only be able to make a single trip to our vehicles and that we may NEVER be allowed back into our home.

 

Just over 2 years ago, I moved home to be with mom to start my organizing business, to help her complete renovations and repairs to the condo, and to help her through her health journey. So the night of the 2nd after a year of uncertainty and struggle, the two of us took my little cat, 4 suitcases, and a litter box to a hotel that the Salvation Army had set up for us. There we waited for more information and tried to get some rest.

 

 

 

 

On Friday, December 5th, the contractors met with the condo homeowners at City Hall to show us the pictures of what was happening to our building and how it lead to a full scale evacuation. It has been unofficially confirmed that our building will stay condemned . We worked HARD on our home and it was BEAUTIFUL. We were down to finishing details. A small mercy is that we will be given a small amount of time to move most of our remaining belongings out. However, we are both incredibly saddened by the loss of the home my mom planned to live in for the rest of her life and overwhelmed by the prospect of mom's continuing cancer treatment, insurance claims and now the daunting task of finding a new home. I am profoundly grateful for every moment I’ve had with mom over the last two years and I know we will find a new place to live. For the next few weeks we have been given some house-sitting opportunities to give us a small buffer while move-out plans move forward and we try to find normalcy in the midst of chaos.

 

The insurance companies are unsure if there will be any settlement at this time. I foresee a legal battle in our future. We are going to need help sooner than any insurance or legal process will be able to play out. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. Mom is too unwell to work and the unforeseen expenses are continuing to pile up. Any help financially will ease the burden while I balance my business, caring for mom and now figuring out how to find us a new home.

 

We intend to use these funds for mom's medical expenses and hopefully put some towards the down payment on a new home. A positive mindset is crucial in cancer treatment and having some of these burdens eased would take quite a bit of stress off my mom's shoulders allowing her to focus solely on beating this. 

 

Much gratitude to everyone who has taken the time to read about our story. We cannot express our gratitude enough to those who are able to help ease and share our burden.