Hi guys, this is Brian. Our family has been having a really difficult time.
Our son Sage fell ill this past month. Seemed like a typical flu at first. Sage is our oldest son, he will be 25 in July. He was born with heart defects. Riley’s children’s hospital practically rebuilt his heart when he was 6 months old. He has a cadaver valve and conduit that have already needed to be replaced once when he was 5. And we knew he would need it done again soon since they don’t grow with his body. Fast forward to him getting sick (he never gets sick), he got over the flu symptoms after a week but had a persistent cough and felt weak. He wasn’t eating either. We took to an urgent care clinic and they put him on prednisone for a week and it helped until the course was over. And then he got worse. We came in his bedroom to check on him and he was pale and clammy and coughing and weak. So we took him to the ER. The did ultrasounds and X-rays and labs and CT scans. He has 2 pulmonary embolisms in his lungs, and his heart valve and conduit are failing. He has a form of strep infection as well. They are trying to stabilize him for open heart surgery in the coming two weeks down in Indianapolis. But he is in considerable amounts of pain. Lisa is staying by his side as much as she possibly can. They won’t let her stay past visiting hours.
And this is compiled by the fact that Lisa has been sick and fighting to recover. Last fall, Lisa caught a life threatening bacterial infection overseas. The treatment process has been rough. She has battled through multiple rounds of end of life antibiotics and negligent doctors and surgeries. As a result, she probably will not be able to work for at least another year as she rehabilitates. She’s been battling with severe clinical depression due to a lack of dopamine and serotonin, harsh side effects from the antibiotics they used on her. She’s also left with almost no energy. Fighting daily to get out of bed, and dealing with extreme pain in her joints and throughout her body.
To add to all this, I was laid off from my job of five years at the beginning of March. I work in the IT industry and the market has been terrible for it lately in my field of expertise. I’ve been searching for work daily. I’ve had a few interviews, but nothing solid yet. For the past seven or eight weeks we’ve been desperately trying to get our house on the market for sale. It’s almost ready, but it’s our only lifeline left financially. Once we sell the house, we should have enough equity to survive for a while. But we’re desperately trying to get to that point. Our families have helped all they can and we’re almost out of funds and can’t pay the basic bills anymore.
We really need some financial help to get us across the finish line. The hope is to get the house sold and hopefully find a job in the next 60 days. I’m just trying to do what I can to help our family survive for now. And we have to get ourselves down to Indianapolis for Sage’s surgery. Please help if you can, it would mean the world to Lisa and I and our kids. Love to you all.
