Our daughter, Colette, was stricken with severe ulcerative colitis in 2015 at the age of 15. She spent two weeks in the ICU and then came home. Unfortunately, she was readmitted two months later, with sepsis, pneumothorax, extensive blood clots, multi-system organ failure, to name a few. She spent three months in the ICU and was only given a 40% chance of survival. She ended up on blood thinner, dialysis, spent six weeks on the ventilator, had two chest tubes, an IVC filter, and more IV poles than I have ever seen in one room. She ended up having a colostomy to save her life. She began to improve after that surgery, and was eventually transferred to the rehabilitation floor where she had to learn how to walk again. She miraculously was able to discontinue the blood thinner and dialysis, and has regained her strength. She is pretty well back to normal except for the colostomy. She is scheduled to have two surgeries to reverse that in Spring and summer 2019.  We are still struggling to pay our portion of her catastrophic medical expenses.

Our current dilemma, which is urgent, is that our copay for her ostomy supplies is $300/month. We did have a pediatric assistance fund grant for two years, but now that she is 19, we cannot renew that. I have spent countless hours contacting every agency and organization that claims to give assistance, seeking copay assistance, only to run into dead ends on every single one. We were told that: a) We can only help you if you don't have insurance, b) We can only help you if you need copay assistance for medications, or c) We don't have any funds open right now for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. I have exhausted all options. We have private insurance and are doing everything in our power to make ends meet.

We just need enough money to pay for her ostomy supplies until after her second surgery, at which time she won't need the supplies. Please help us. We are a family of six struggling at this time. We are so grateful for her recovery, but the financial burden has been tremendous. We are in that gap where we are working, have insurance, and can't get any help.