Financial Support for my Parents

My family and I have unfortunately watched my mom go in and out of hospitals all throughout our childhood for COPD, Congestive Heart Failure and diabetes. My dad has watched my mom's health decline every year since they got married on June 7th 1986. From January - march of 2020 (the beginning of covid,) my mom Nicki was hospitalized in the ICU on a ventilator. At that time my dad was on paid family leave.

When she finally got home, we didn't have an aide to stay with her. While my dad was trying to get her help, the Human Resources Dept. called him to tell him he was out of time and needed to get back to work. He asked for an unpaid leave of absence but had exhausted that as well. She had been hospitalized 5 times that year for COPD and Congestive Heart Failure, and with the scare of covid (which was thought of as a death sentence for people like that), my dad couldn't risk going back into the hospital and bringing COVID back to her. After 24 years of dedicated service in the hospital and three years short of collecting his pension, he was told, "come back now, or be forced to resign." There was no way he could take that chance, and had no alternatives but to write the letter of resignation, forcing him to resign.

After some time, he finally found an aide to help Nicki, at which point he had to find a new job working at a grocery store, which was a significant financial downgrade from his previous career. She got hospitalized again after that, this time for another reason- Suffering from necrotizing fasciitis - A flesh-eating infection in part due to her diabetes which caused the initiating wound to go unnoticed. She had four surgeries, one to place a colostomy bag, which she now has to maintain with the help of my father. She spent a total of 4 months in the ICU and a month in rehab, finally coming home just recently. As a result of this stay, they both caught covid, and she was sent back AGAIN for another two weeks.

She was finally able to return home, only to learn that her father had passed away. She couldn't even attend her father's funeral because of health precautions and due to the risk of her oxygen getting too low for leaving the house for that length of time.

This past year has been a mental and emotional rollercoaster on top of the significant financial burdens. It is extremely difficult to watch them go through so many challenging times. My dad has been physically and mentally unable to work while being her primary caretaker. Taking care of Nicki has become incredibly difficult, and my father needs all the help he can get. We have been doing everything in our power to support them since neither of my parents can work. They are having difficulty making ends meet and covering costs for aides, so we are hoping for a little bit of help. My dad is eligible to collect SSI in March and, until then, has little to nothing.

My parents have never been the type of people to ask for help, but they are always the first to help others in need. Even the smallest donation will help them. Thank you so much for reading and for any donation you can give. If you cannot donate, please share or send your prayers and love their way. Thank you so much.

Karen