Amputations TOE-tally Suck!
Donation protected
Hello, friends! We're back again, asking for help during a(nother) time of medical crisis.
Most of you know my husband, Chas: giant beardy tattooed man. Many of you also know he has been dealing with recurring diabetes issues since being diagnosed in 2010. So far, he's already had one foot amputation, a heart attack, and an episode of ketoacidosis, all of which left him hospitalized for a week or more.
For the last year and a half, Chas has been dealing with a diabetic wound on his right (ONLY) big toe. He spent most of this time being seen by wound care professionals, and during, infections were recurrent.
In November 2024, Chas lost his "primary job" (he'd had two), which meant he lost his health care coverage. With that came two big obstacles: (a) Having to relocate back to Georgia (which drained our entire savings), and (b) having to wait to get re-established with a new wound care provider.
During that period, an infection developed, and this one is much worse than all of the others. He's currently admitted into the hospital, awaiting amputation of at least one toe.
Financially, this could not have come at a worse time: While still trying to recover from the aforementioned job loss and moving expenses, we recently learned that his one remaining job will be ending at the end of May, and as of a couple weeks ago, we were hit with a 25% wage garnishment of that job due to past medical debt. Given all of that, I have been working morning-to-night doing delivery orders and submitting job applications in the limited time I'm *not* doing orders.
With this amputation, those financial woes are going to be further compounded because:
- He's going to miss at least 2 weeks of work.
- I'm going to be unable to work as much, since I'm going to be his primary physical support during this time.
- Costs are going to balloon because we're uninsured, which means we're going to have to foot the bill for diabetes care, wound supplies, and mobility supplies (wheelchair, shower chair, and medical footwear to avoid future complications).
- The medical bills are going to pile up quickly. We applied for indigent care, but got denied because they only look at tax returns as proof of income. And our last tax return includes the job he lost at the end of last year...so it does not reflect that his income has been slashed by 60%.
Because of this, we're asking for help from those we know and love. We've set our initial goal as something that will help us cover our immediate bills and expenses, but if things change drastically/unexpectedly, we may have to extend it to help cover those unknowns.
Even if you're unable to donate, we would appreciate you taking the time to share it with your network. Word-of-mouth really does go a long way!
Thank you all for reading.
<3
Organizer
Heather Stover
Organizer
Hahira, GA