Donation protected
On February 14th, 2019, my first cousin, Mike Silberstein went to the ER with severe abdominal pain. On February 16th, doctors discovered that Mike's heart had gone into AFB. That put him at a risk of a blood clot going to his brain and causing a stroke. After several days in a Coos Bay hospital, he was transferred to Portland, Oregon.
On February 28th (the day after his 26th wedding anniversary) a colorectal surgeon finally operated. His problems were due to a very bad case of diverticulitis. The surgeon removed Mike's appendix, part of his intestine, and part of his colon. He left the hospital with an ileostomy, a bag attached to his stomach.
Mike had been released to go home on March 8th and was not allowed to go back to work until the middle of May. Therefore, Mike was totally dependent on the income of his wife, Leah, for those 3 months. Unfortunately, after returning to work for only a few weeks, Mike's job was eliminated on June 14th. And to make matters worse, on June 10th, Leah had been laid off her job. Therefore, their insurance with her former company ended and they had to obtain Cobra insurance.
Mike did find a job that started the end of August but he was only able to work for 6 weeks before he had to go on medical leave for a second surgery to hopefully reverse the temporary ileostomy. The surgeon was able to connect everything inside but decided the tissue needed more healing time before the ileostomy could be reversed. Mike was off work for another 6 weeks.
Hopefully, the final surgery will be performed in late January, 2020. That surgery will again mean no income coming in from Mike, as well as accumulating more hospital/doctor expenses. He will be off work again for another 6-8 weeks.
Any funds donated through this site will go directly to help pay for medical costs and other expenses accrued while Mike was in the hospital and off work recovering from his surgeries. In January, their insurance deductible and out of pocket max will begin again. So you can only imagine how much they will appreciate any help you can give them. I am asking all of our friends and relatives to please give from their hearts and help Mike and Leah get back on their feet as soon as possible.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
On February 28th (the day after his 26th wedding anniversary) a colorectal surgeon finally operated. His problems were due to a very bad case of diverticulitis. The surgeon removed Mike's appendix, part of his intestine, and part of his colon. He left the hospital with an ileostomy, a bag attached to his stomach.
Mike had been released to go home on March 8th and was not allowed to go back to work until the middle of May. Therefore, Mike was totally dependent on the income of his wife, Leah, for those 3 months. Unfortunately, after returning to work for only a few weeks, Mike's job was eliminated on June 14th. And to make matters worse, on June 10th, Leah had been laid off her job. Therefore, their insurance with her former company ended and they had to obtain Cobra insurance.
Mike did find a job that started the end of August but he was only able to work for 6 weeks before he had to go on medical leave for a second surgery to hopefully reverse the temporary ileostomy. The surgeon was able to connect everything inside but decided the tissue needed more healing time before the ileostomy could be reversed. Mike was off work for another 6 weeks.
Hopefully, the final surgery will be performed in late January, 2020. That surgery will again mean no income coming in from Mike, as well as accumulating more hospital/doctor expenses. He will be off work again for another 6-8 weeks.
Any funds donated through this site will go directly to help pay for medical costs and other expenses accrued while Mike was in the hospital and off work recovering from his surgeries. In January, their insurance deductible and out of pocket max will begin again. So you can only imagine how much they will appreciate any help you can give them. I am asking all of our friends and relatives to please give from their hearts and help Mike and Leah get back on their feet as soon as possible.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Organizer and beneficiary
Roxanne Coleman
Organizer
Milwaukie, OR
Michael Silberstein
Beneficiary