ALEX'S MEDICAL COST (RENAL FAILURE)
Donation protected
This is the story about a young man who just won't give up and still keeps doing for others, even though he is very sick and pushes himself to get through each day of his life.
His name is Alex and he is my son. Alex was born on Sept. 27, 1990. When he was born, he was not breathing and had to be ressusitated. He was in the hospital the first month of his life. About a month after we took him home he developed a hernia and had to have it surgically fixed. At five years old, on Easter Sunday, he didn't look right and we took him to the ER. He passed out and lapsed into a come as we got into the hospital. He had chicken pox also at the time. They said his blood sugar was at 1,600 and his body shut down. He was transported down to Westchester Medical Center and was admitted. They worked on him through the night and the next day we were told the chicken pox must have attacked his pancreas and he is now a diabetic. At the age of 8, he was already giving himself his insulin shots and life went on from there.
Around age 17 His eyes started failing him and we started going to specialists for him. We found one and he would be taken bi-weekly for treatments to his eyes. This process was having needles poked into the back of his eyes to drain the tumors behind his eyes. After about five years of this treatment he seems to have beat it and regained his sight with the help of glasses.
Around January 2016 his kidneys started failing and after being in the hospital for 10 days he was put on dyalisis to save his life. This proceedure was 3 times a week for four hours each time. Other people would have given up and went of diabilaty. To this day he still won't do that and works a forty hour week , many times in pain, at the local supermarket, of which he has worked 11 years now. They know how he pushes himself and works with him for the time he needs for medical appointments.
I am a retired NYC worker who had the best in medical and drug coverage. At age 26 he lost it, but was offered COBRA at a cost of $1,651.00 a month. One of his prescriptions alone cost aprox. $1,300.00 a month. I went to the National kidney Foundation and they have been paying it for him. Now he is on the Kidney Transplant list and we found a live doner for him. It looks like he may get a transplant sometime in the next 6 weeks.
The copays and deductables are building up and we see no way out of it. I would help him out when I was working, but now I am 67 and retired 7 years ago and am living on my Social Security and a pension. I have been draining much of what we have on him and am finding it harder and harder as time goes on.
There is one big problem, after the transplant is sucsessful, The Kidney Foundation stops the payment for his insurance. He can get medical insurance at his job, but will not cover anywhere near what mine has covered. They have a $2,000.00 deductable each year before coverage begins. His anti-rejection drugs, which will have to take for the rest of his life costs over $1,800.00 a month, which we don't know how much of it they will pay. We have come to the point of needing help and help that there are some good hearted people out there who can help him.
One more thing. Three years before this happened he became a Vol. Fireman and still is to this day, although he has had restrictions put on him by OSHA. He jooind because he wanted to help people and still does as much as he can today. The picture of him is in his firemans uniform.
Everybody knows Alex in this town from the supermarket and the fire department, but this is not a very rich town with just common everyday people who help him as much as they can. We need people from other places to help. He had a savings account, but it had dwindled down to almost nothing.
He has helped a lot of people in the past and still does, as sick as he is. Now we are asking for any help you can give him to get by financially. He would get very mad if he knew I am doing this as he is trying to do it on his own. I don't think he will be able to without a little help.
The goal we posted would just about get him out from under the bills already piled up.
Thank you for any help you can give him,
Alex's father Al
His name is Alex and he is my son. Alex was born on Sept. 27, 1990. When he was born, he was not breathing and had to be ressusitated. He was in the hospital the first month of his life. About a month after we took him home he developed a hernia and had to have it surgically fixed. At five years old, on Easter Sunday, he didn't look right and we took him to the ER. He passed out and lapsed into a come as we got into the hospital. He had chicken pox also at the time. They said his blood sugar was at 1,600 and his body shut down. He was transported down to Westchester Medical Center and was admitted. They worked on him through the night and the next day we were told the chicken pox must have attacked his pancreas and he is now a diabetic. At the age of 8, he was already giving himself his insulin shots and life went on from there.
Around age 17 His eyes started failing him and we started going to specialists for him. We found one and he would be taken bi-weekly for treatments to his eyes. This process was having needles poked into the back of his eyes to drain the tumors behind his eyes. After about five years of this treatment he seems to have beat it and regained his sight with the help of glasses.
Around January 2016 his kidneys started failing and after being in the hospital for 10 days he was put on dyalisis to save his life. This proceedure was 3 times a week for four hours each time. Other people would have given up and went of diabilaty. To this day he still won't do that and works a forty hour week , many times in pain, at the local supermarket, of which he has worked 11 years now. They know how he pushes himself and works with him for the time he needs for medical appointments.
I am a retired NYC worker who had the best in medical and drug coverage. At age 26 he lost it, but was offered COBRA at a cost of $1,651.00 a month. One of his prescriptions alone cost aprox. $1,300.00 a month. I went to the National kidney Foundation and they have been paying it for him. Now he is on the Kidney Transplant list and we found a live doner for him. It looks like he may get a transplant sometime in the next 6 weeks.
The copays and deductables are building up and we see no way out of it. I would help him out when I was working, but now I am 67 and retired 7 years ago and am living on my Social Security and a pension. I have been draining much of what we have on him and am finding it harder and harder as time goes on.
There is one big problem, after the transplant is sucsessful, The Kidney Foundation stops the payment for his insurance. He can get medical insurance at his job, but will not cover anywhere near what mine has covered. They have a $2,000.00 deductable each year before coverage begins. His anti-rejection drugs, which will have to take for the rest of his life costs over $1,800.00 a month, which we don't know how much of it they will pay. We have come to the point of needing help and help that there are some good hearted people out there who can help him.
One more thing. Three years before this happened he became a Vol. Fireman and still is to this day, although he has had restrictions put on him by OSHA. He jooind because he wanted to help people and still does as much as he can today. The picture of him is in his firemans uniform.
Everybody knows Alex in this town from the supermarket and the fire department, but this is not a very rich town with just common everyday people who help him as much as they can. We need people from other places to help. He had a savings account, but it had dwindled down to almost nothing.
He has helped a lot of people in the past and still does, as sick as he is. Now we are asking for any help you can give him to get by financially. He would get very mad if he knew I am doing this as he is trying to do it on his own. I don't think he will be able to without a little help.
The goal we posted would just about get him out from under the bills already piled up.
Thank you for any help you can give him,
Alex's father Al
Organizer
AL SCHWENDEMANN
Organizer
Eldred, NY
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