COVID-19 Rent and Bill Fund
Donation protected
It’s incredibly hard for me to drop my pride and be vulnerable in ways I’m not used to, but this is truly an emergency and I have no idea what else to do.
Most of you know what I went through back in December 2019 and January 2020. On December 7th, I was admitted to Norwalk Hospital with Pneumonia, that was a Saturday. By Monday, I could not breath on my own and was being intubated. I woke up a little over 2 weeks later with a tube still down my throat. I had no idea where I was or what was going on and couldn’t move any of my muscles. I eventually found out that while I was unconscious, I had been diagnosed with the following:
MRSA Pneumonia
Rhinovirus Pneumonia
Streptococcus Pneumonia
Severe Sepsis due to Pneumonia
Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure
Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Pneumomediastinum (air in my chest where it doesn’t belong)
Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation with RVR (my heart wasn’t beating normally)
Demand Ischemia (the oxygen in my blood was not enough to support my heart)
Acute Kidney Failure
Pancytopenia (deficiency of all three cellular components of the blood, red, white and platelets)
Physical Deconditioning (caused from being bed bound and my muscles deteriorated)
Hypertension and Anxiety (Go Figure)
I was also told that my liver functions had stopped, my lungs had stopped, my kidneys had failed and that I had what is called “End Organ Damage” which refers to damage occurring in major organs fed by the circulatory system which can sustain damage due to uncontrolled hypertension.
God bless my brother Seth, my sister Janice, my son Ian and all my friends and family who came to my side. They were all told that I wasn't expected to live. I don’t envy the position my family was in, having to think about when to pull the plug on me. I don’t know how or why, but I started to recover and on December 22nd, the breathing tube was removed and was eventually moved from the ICU to a step-down floor to begin my physical therapy and recovery. From there, I was sent to an inpatient physical therapy facility for several weeks, after which I was released and sent home.
I am very fortunate that my landlord did not evict me while I was in the hospital, but I do still owe a ton of back rent and now I don't know how I am going to pay current rent.
Before all this happened, I had been working at Nordstrom’s restaurant “Bazille” in the new SoNo Collection Mall in Norwalk, CT. After working for Nordstrom for only 3 weeks, I get crazy sick and disappear. How fortunate am I that Nordstrom held my position for me. When I was strong enough, I went back to work and now that I am fully recovered, enter the Corona Virus (COVID-19) and Nordstrom is forced to close the restaurant and their doors indefinitely. Just as I was getting back on my feet, I was furloughed from my job and again found myself without any income. I have been applying for jobs every day, but restaurants and the food service industry have been hit hard by this pandemic.
That said, I have applied for unemployment and am now waiting to hear back from the State of Connecticut. I have applied to every relief fund that I can find, and as great at that is, they all have a waiting list and will take 4 to 8 weeks to get back to me with an answer.
Any assistance and support is greatly appreciated, no matter how small. I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read this.
God Bless and Stay Safe.
Robert
May 15th Update:
Still Unemployed and waiting on CT Department of Labor to fix the problem that they said would be fixed weeks ago. The money from this fund has helped me immensely. A huge thanks to everyone who has helped me during this difficult time.
RK
Most of you know what I went through back in December 2019 and January 2020. On December 7th, I was admitted to Norwalk Hospital with Pneumonia, that was a Saturday. By Monday, I could not breath on my own and was being intubated. I woke up a little over 2 weeks later with a tube still down my throat. I had no idea where I was or what was going on and couldn’t move any of my muscles. I eventually found out that while I was unconscious, I had been diagnosed with the following:
MRSA Pneumonia
Rhinovirus Pneumonia
Streptococcus Pneumonia
Severe Sepsis due to Pneumonia
Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure
Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Pneumomediastinum (air in my chest where it doesn’t belong)
Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation with RVR (my heart wasn’t beating normally)
Demand Ischemia (the oxygen in my blood was not enough to support my heart)
Acute Kidney Failure
Pancytopenia (deficiency of all three cellular components of the blood, red, white and platelets)
Physical Deconditioning (caused from being bed bound and my muscles deteriorated)
Hypertension and Anxiety (Go Figure)
I was also told that my liver functions had stopped, my lungs had stopped, my kidneys had failed and that I had what is called “End Organ Damage” which refers to damage occurring in major organs fed by the circulatory system which can sustain damage due to uncontrolled hypertension.
God bless my brother Seth, my sister Janice, my son Ian and all my friends and family who came to my side. They were all told that I wasn't expected to live. I don’t envy the position my family was in, having to think about when to pull the plug on me. I don’t know how or why, but I started to recover and on December 22nd, the breathing tube was removed and was eventually moved from the ICU to a step-down floor to begin my physical therapy and recovery. From there, I was sent to an inpatient physical therapy facility for several weeks, after which I was released and sent home.
I am very fortunate that my landlord did not evict me while I was in the hospital, but I do still owe a ton of back rent and now I don't know how I am going to pay current rent.
Before all this happened, I had been working at Nordstrom’s restaurant “Bazille” in the new SoNo Collection Mall in Norwalk, CT. After working for Nordstrom for only 3 weeks, I get crazy sick and disappear. How fortunate am I that Nordstrom held my position for me. When I was strong enough, I went back to work and now that I am fully recovered, enter the Corona Virus (COVID-19) and Nordstrom is forced to close the restaurant and their doors indefinitely. Just as I was getting back on my feet, I was furloughed from my job and again found myself without any income. I have been applying for jobs every day, but restaurants and the food service industry have been hit hard by this pandemic.
That said, I have applied for unemployment and am now waiting to hear back from the State of Connecticut. I have applied to every relief fund that I can find, and as great at that is, they all have a waiting list and will take 4 to 8 weeks to get back to me with an answer.
Any assistance and support is greatly appreciated, no matter how small. I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read this.
God Bless and Stay Safe.
Robert
May 15th Update:
Still Unemployed and waiting on CT Department of Labor to fix the problem that they said would be fixed weeks ago. The money from this fund has helped me immensely. A huge thanks to everyone who has helped me during this difficult time.
RK
Organizer
Robert Konigsberg
Organizer
Norwalk, CT