My brother John was diagnosed with Parkinsons in his early 50's and it has now progressed to a point where his medications no longer work effectively. This leaves him with long periods of impaired mobility and difficulty functioning with his daily activities. We believe that the lack of mobility led to an exacerbation of congestive heart failure. He has been in the hospital for several days with three days in ICU being treated for heart failure, low blood pressure, elevated kidney enzymes and possible sepsis. He is stable now and being discharged to a rehab center to be followed by several months in a nursing care facility.

The other part of this story is that there is a new Parkinsons medication that shows tremendous improvements to people like John for who traditional medications no longer work. This drug could be a game changer in John's life but Medicaid won't cover it with his insurance because it costs over $4000 a month. And it's so new that there are no generic equivalents. It will be covered if he has a Medicaid "waiver" for which we are applying but we are told it can take up to eight months to be approved. In the meantime John is unable to continue living independently. Once we have the waiver and he is able to begin the new medication, our hope is that he will regain better functioning allowing him to move into an Assisted Living facility.

As you can imagine this has completely upended his life and he is having to adjust to a new reality without independence or privacy. Added to that, very soon he will lose his social security disability income (his only income) as it is absorbed by the cost of his care. I am opening this platform in the hopes that his friends and family can come together to ease the burden and maintain a sense of dignity by providing him with the means to get a haircut, go out to eat with his friends, have a cell phone and generally enjoy the small pleasures of life. After he is approved for Assisted Living they will continue to take a large portion of his income and he will need new furniture and supplies.

If you are able and feel so inclined, any assistance you provide will be so appreciated by John. This is going to be a long term process so a one time donation is great but if you would rather send him a small monthly stipend that would be appreciated too. Every little bit would help! If you aren't able to help him financially we understand, please keep him in your thoughts and prayers going forward. Thank you so much!!