Financial and Moving Fund for Anne Keith

This last year has been especially challenging for Anne and me. Anne contracted sepsis in early July, and nearly died of septic shock. Her kidneys shut down, she had to be put in a coma, she was on a respirator with a tracheostomy, and she had to be on dialysis. Then, just as she was able to be taken off the ventilator, she contracted COVID-19 and had to be in isolation for two weeks. During this period she was suffering from horrific hallucinations, and had to be restrained as she was extremely agitated and tore out her PICC line.

In the first week, doctors were fairly certain she was going to die, or if she survived she would need to be on a ventilator and/or dialysis for the rest of her life. I was with Anne every day I was able. I was commuting from Centralia to Olympia daily to be with her, and when I returned home I was the only person who was taking care of Anne’s mom Mary, who suffers from significant mental decline. I had to give Mary her medication twice daily, as she couldn’t be trusted to take it on her own. I also had to give our cat Ruby twice daily insulin shots for her diabetes.

To make matters even more difficult, I have Crohn’s disease. Not only does that cause terrible digestive issues with pain and bleeding, it also mimics arthritis and makes it painful to walk or move. Just prior to Anne being admitted to the hospital I had to quit taking Stelara, an immunosuppressant medication. Not only was it not helping my Crohn’s Disease, it was causing horrible side effects including increased joint and muscle pain, brain fog and terrible fatigue.

The first month Anne was in the hospital I was pushing through this wall of symptoms to be with her in the ICU, and then drive home and look after Mary, our cat Ruby, and somehow keep myself fed and functioning. Mary’s confusion was so great that every night I had to explain to her where Anne was, just how sick Anne was, why Anne couldn’t come home, and then go over it again and again and again.

I caught COVID-19 in the ICU along with Anne, and brought it home to Mary. I wasn’t able to see Anne during that period, but I had to look after Mary, who was so sick she took to bed for four days. I was bringing her medicine and water every couple of hours, making her rice porridge to see if she would eat anything, and taking her temperature and checking her oxygen levels to see if she needed to be hospitalized. Luckily that wasn’t necessary. And a week after that Mary forgot she had ever had COVID.

By some miracle Anne was able to fight off her sepsis. She spent nearly two months in the ICU, and had to relearn how to swallow, talk, walk and write. After extensive physical therapy she was able to come home. She is getting stronger every day, but she still needs her walker when she’s out in public. Doctors say that she has the potential to get back to “normal” in a year or so with continued therapy. She isn’t physically able to look after her mom either, as Mary’s cognitive decline has gotten to where she needs professional assistance. With Anne’s sister’s help, Mary was moved into an assisted living facility nearby shortly after Anne was discharged.

All of that would be enough, but the hospital saga was just one of the problems we’ve had to face in the recent past. Anne and I had our own business, South Puget Sound ABA. Anne worked with children with autism as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, helping them with communication and life skills training. Before the COVID-19 pandemic we had several clients, but since our business model was to do in-home therapy five days a week, it wasn’t safe or feasible to stay open. When we reopened after the quarantine we only had two remaining clients, which isn’t enough to support ourselves or our one remaining Behavior Technician. During this time Anne had to have surgery for an ovarian cyst. After that surgery she was suffering from terrible fatigue and body pain, and after several doctors were consulted she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in the summer of 2022. Despite this, she was still working as much as she was able, even though she was in extreme pain.

We couldn't find any new clients through the usual insurance companies, but we were able to finally get credentialed by Tricare Insurance to offer our services to the Joint Base Lewis McChord community. We knew that no other ABA therapy company was offering services on the base, so that would have locked in a guaranteed and solid client base. But due to lack of funds Anne missed a deadline for her continuing education credits and had to retake her BCBA certification test. Anne was able to pass the test, but just as we were about to start working with Tricare is when Anne ended up getting sepsis and nearly dying. Now that Anne is convalescing and won’t be able to work for the next year, our business has collapsed.

I can't work because of my Crohn's disease, and my doctors tell me that if I can find a medication that works, it will take two years (and one or two surgeries) for my body to heal. I've applied for disability, but my initial claim was denied in early September. This was expected, as pretty much every case is denied at first and only awarded on appeal. I’ve filed my appeal but it's still pending. Anne applied for disability herself after she got out of the hospital, but the caseworker told her that she would most likely have to appeal it after the initial denial, which won't happen until March 2024.

We've been getting by with assistance from friends and family. However, Anne's brother in law (who handles Mary's finances) has told Mary that assisting Anne and me financially is just “enabling” us and feels that we should get our own jobs and make our own way in the world. He convinced Mary to stop assisting us back in January, and only started sending us funds again once Anne got out of the hospital. He is now requiring that we submit pay stubs showing 25 hours of work a week or there will be no more checks. Also, we know that Mary's house (where we've been living) needs to be sold, but he told us that we have to move out by February 25 regardless of whether or not the house has been sold.

We are launching this GoFundMe to help with our living expenses over the next months, and hopefully by then we will be able to receive government benefits. We also need to cover the remaining costs for closing our business (including paying our last employee her back pay), and to help find somewhere new to live. If by some miracle we get more than the requested funding level, we have loans that need paying that the money would go towards, and in doing so reduce our monthly costs.

Thank you for taking the time to read this request. Do know that it’s extremely hard to ask for help like this, but we’ve run out of other options. If you can give anything it would help us tremendously, as would sharing this GoFundMe with friends, family and associates. If you had Anne on your church prayer list when she was in the hospital, please consider sending the link to the members on the prayer list as well. Know that we both appreciate all of you from the bottom of our hearts.