Can you please help Chris with our medical costs

Hi, my name is Samantha, and I am fundraising on behalf of my husband, Chris Lawless and our family.

On the 24th Nov 2022, our little world was shaken like a snow globe.

For the past few weeks, Chris had been experiencing a sore back, not unusual for a full-time carpenter who often works overtime and then spends his downtime doing side jobs and keeping up with our 7 and 11-year-old sons!

But on the 16th of November, 2022, things worsened. He had pins and needles running down his right leg and couldn't control his right foot. After visiting our local Doctor, Chris had a CT scan and was referred to a neurosurgeon at Calvary hospital. Before his consult, he had an MRI done, and the results from that scan led to our life-changing moment. Usually, the recovery process would be to rest, see a physio, and then consider surgery as the last option. Surgery was the only option for us, and it had to happen immediately.

Chris had a disc herniation in the L4L5 area, bulging into the spinal column. It was an 8mm bulge into a 12mm space; there was almost no room for his nerves to function. The surgeon and staff were shocked he could still walk and had control of his bowels. We were told if he lost sensation in his bowels, it wouldn't be regained. There was also the risk that he couldn't walk normally again.

For Chris to regain the use of his leg and get rid of the numbness and tingling, he had to have surgery within 24 hours. The neurosurgeon discussed going through the public system; he was operating at the Royal Adelaide Hospital five days later. Still, he couldn't guarantee that Chris would be the highest priority on the list for theatre, and if he wasn't, there would be another 5-day wait after that. The surgeon also pressed to us that he didn't think Chris had time to wait before he lost control of his bowels. So The private system was our only option. We were sent home with the paperwork to fill in and get Chris organised, with the gentle reminder that he is lost bowel sensation to return immediately.

Then came one of the most stressful 24 hours of our lives. Our private health insurance refused to cover the surgery as we are still in the two-month waiting period, thanks to updating our coverage before this initial injury.

Oh, the irony of that! So our only option was to pay out of pocket if we wanted Chris to have any chance at regaining the use of his right leg and not ending up with a colostomy bag for the rest of his life.

Usually, the neurosurgeon wouldn't have taken this on in the private system, but he knew Chris wouldn't have been seen promptly in the public system. I am forever grateful that he did the surgery and gave Chris every fighting chance to recover fully.

We have pulled everything we have in savings for Chris's surgery - we were "lucky" our refinancing contracts could be cancelled at the last minute before our new loan was issued. Our home renovation, cars and holiday plans have been altogether scrapped, especially the home renovations, as Chris was going to do those themself. All the time and effort he has spent improving others' places so that we could save for our plans have been crushed. But to put the icing on this cake, Chris is a "casual" employee, so he doesn't get any annual or sick leave. The neurosurgeon also said he would never return to work as a carpenter. We are now a single part-time income family with a mortgage and ongoing medical bills. Chris will be recovering at home for six months with weekly physiotherapy sessions to help with the nerve damage. Before Chris can re-enter the workforce, he will need to be re-skilled and study, but that is all further down the track in 2023 as it's a long, slow process to rehabilitate from this injury.

We are working through the Centrelink process, but at this stage, we have no idea what support we will qualify for and how long it will take for money to hit our accounts. What we do know is our single income isn't nearly enough. We are grateful for anything received to help us through this very challenging time right before Christmas.