Making Our House Accessible

Hey everyone, I'm Katie and I'm this lovely man's daughter. First off, I just want to make it clear, I don’t expect to raise the money to the goal. It’s a large amount, and it seems silly to ask, but any little bit helps.

Since December 2022, our family has been dealing with huge changes and emergencies. We are forever thankful to family and friends for their prayers, good thoughts, and help.

Here is a summary of what has been going on. It’s a lot, so hold on to your hat.

Scott has had trouble with his feet for a long time. He’s had no feeling in them since he was a teenager. Unfortunately, over time, that resulted in injuries to the bones of his feet that he didn’t feel.

Scott was taken by ambulance to the hospital on January 17th. He was admitted with several different issues, but they were all the result of sepsis, an infection in his blood. The infection came from a wound on his foot that he had broken and dislocated in December.

Unfortunately, the only way to fully clear the infection was amputation. He had surgery to remove his leg, below the knee, on January 31. Why such a long time between admission and the surgery? They had to get the systemic infection under control, and then, just to add to all the excitement, the infection got into his eye (not like pink eye, actually IN his eye), and limited his vision. He had to be transferred to Presby for about a week so they could treat that.

The bug that caused the infection was MRSA, the kind of staph bacteria that is resistant to all but a few antibiotics. Since it was such a nasty bug, he needed six weeks of intravenous antibiotics.

There’s still a tough road ahead. Once he’s done healing, he’ll start the process of getting fitted for a prosthetic and learning how to use it. We have to modify the house to make it easier for him to get around. His eye is clearing and they think he should get all his vision back but it will take time.

We are immensely grateful to everyone at UPMC East. Without any exaggeration, they saved his life. Thanks to the ophthalmology team at Presby that saved his vision. Thank you to the teams of medical professionals at Encompass Harmarville for helping him gain strength and independence so he can come home. And thank you to everyone here who sent him cards, prayers, and good thoughts. We appreciate every single one.

We’ve learned a lot across this entire experience and finally, we arrive at why I’m making this GoFundMe. Even before this “adventure” that is 2023, we were trying to modify the house. Melissa (Mom) has limited mobility as well. My brother and I work taking care of our parents and that’s a full-time responsibility. Our house is not wheelchair accessible. We don’t have enough room and the hallways are too small for the wheelchair Dad uses. Every single cent we raise here will go to remodeling and expanding our home to make it safe and comfortable for them. We need a handicapped bathroom, a larger bedroom for them to live in, and laundry upstairs on the first floor. All in all, it’s a huge project that we desperately need help with. I’ll be updating everyone every step of the way. And thanks in advance for all your help. Even if you share the post and spread the word, any little bit helps.