Thank you for taking the time to read and consider my plea.

I am a 60-year-old single Italian American woman. Mother of two special needs children. I'm young at heart and always have been. I am an MBA, avid traveler, chef, and scuba diver. I should say i was. Two years ago, my life changed beyond comprehension.

In June of 23 my intestines diseased and ruptured, leading to the first of four comas. The first lasting three months.

At a Kaiser hospital, the doctors gave me a two percent chance of survival. My family planned my funeral, finding a plot and preparing to wake me up and have my children say goodbye to me. Since then, I've been on death's door four times with similar odds of survival. I have had more ruptures and pneumonia ten times. I have survived septic shock three times over the last two years.

Spending one and a half years in the hospital between the events, I am primarily bed-bound because your body gets deconditioned in bed. It is paralyzed in a manner when you finally wake up from your coma.

Some good news is that I'm going home tomorrow, April 4. I'll be outside for the first time in eight months, and boy, am I scared.

I am asking for financial assistance to pay for a caregiver 48 hours a week at $42.75 per hour. That is the going rate with a discount from Kaiser. I also have medical bills that have been accumulating over these last two years, which include hospital copays, ambulance copays, surgeries, specialists, and transportation.

I need a lot of help because I must find a way to deal with the current state of my health. I have two numb legs and can walk 40 feet with two assistants. I have a 7-inch diameter open wound holding in the intestines. I cannot eat solid food, only broth, as I am told if I eat something solid, I'm risking death. The prognosis is as bad as it gets. I wear a 9-inch sack that collects every drop of fluid from my fistula, about 3 liters a day.

Also, I have a 7 cm pressure wound on my tailbone down to the spine. This pain is the worst of them all, requiring a large amount of pain management.

My trach is horrible. Last month the Dr's did a laser operation hoping to decannulate removing the tube from my airway. I lasted two weeks until my treachea collapsed and they called a code blue and wisked me to the OR where they once again placed my 4th one. No voice. Can you imagine? Crushing.

Next, I am currently alive from a feeding tube to a recent stomach. All formula and water must go through as it is the only avenue for nutrition. It's like baby formula. I am absolutely terrified of dying soon. It consumes me.

I have been turned down by medical last year for being $200 over the threshold despite the need. This has left me the balance share of cost, ambulance transportation, medical equipment, hospital stay for 8 months, specialists, hospital bed and mattress, physical therapy, occupational therapy, social work, mental health and holistic consult and cna. I am seeking a second opinion from UCSD not covered by Kaiser.

and CNA.

I would forever be grateful to all the angels out there that can assist me. I know there are so many good people and that we help each other when we can, and I know I certainly live by that rule myself. I've never asked for a dime in my life, and this is an exercise in humility for me.

So my passion for the ocean, pools, jacuzzi, showees, baths and my beloved scuba will only be a memory.

Food will only be a memory.

Dancing hiking and walking will only be a memory.

Real clothing will only be a memory.

Driving will only be a memory

Intimacy will only be a memory

Disneyland a memory

Traveling, cruising and being a home chef....a memory.

For those that believe, please pray for me.

I am forever grateful for your generosity. I so desperately want some quality of life.

God bless.

Warmest regards,

CHERYL BOSCIA MYERS