Help Devin Beat Lymphoma
Donation protected
From the moment I first talked to Devin, I knew he was different. He was special and I fell head over heels for him. His dream, even at 16, was to have a family and be a good father. I was lucky enough to marry my best friend in 2010 and we achieved his dream of starting our own family in late 2013 with the birth of our brilliant daughter, then again in 2015 with the birth of our sweet son. We have worked hard to build a mobile pet grooming business since 2012 that we run as a family and prided ourself on doing that with money saved, in a set up built by Devin and my Dad. We were so proud to finally get our own home last year in Texas, but still have returned every month to Illinois to care for the clients we love. We were working towards a more stable position with the start and operating our Texas branch of our business. We would be able to purchase health and life insurance this year, possibly starting a shop from our property in Texas in case anything happened so I could support our family, then Devin became sick.
Devin developed a fever May 13th. May 15th, after the fever hadn't stopped returning from 2PM-2AM, Devin said something isn't right and went into a Minute Clinic. He was diagnosed with pneumonia, given antibiotics and 7 days later, when the fever persisted, he went back in to be sent to the ER. The tests were clear minus slight elevations of white blood cells and anemia, he was given an antibiotic shot. To get back to a doctor we knew and trusted, we limped back to Illinois, Devin taking the trip in two days while my Mom met us half way to finish the drive with myself and the children. More tests came back negative. He's been on 4 antibiotics total, not including the antibiotic shot. A CT scan on June 21st showed swollen lymph nodes around his heart - a much better diagnosis than we expected, at least! We have paid for all of these tests and doctors visits entirely out of pocket with a slush fund we had built, but it is rapidly declining and we know more bills are coming as we tackle lymphoma.
Devin is a brilliant 26 year old McGyver, loving learning. You can often find dozens of tabs open with Wikipedia entries. He's a great father, bottle feeding our daughter every single night while I pumped for her. He's frustrated to be down, not able to play with his children and struggling to even eat or drive our rig to pay our bills.
Not being able to pay for our own medical bills is embarrassing for us. Still, I'd rather swallow my pride because losing my husband, my best friend, and the father my children deserve is much worse. We appreciate any help we are offered and cannot thank everyone enough for the love everyone has shared to help our family through this. We know Devin will beat this!
Devin developed a fever May 13th. May 15th, after the fever hadn't stopped returning from 2PM-2AM, Devin said something isn't right and went into a Minute Clinic. He was diagnosed with pneumonia, given antibiotics and 7 days later, when the fever persisted, he went back in to be sent to the ER. The tests were clear minus slight elevations of white blood cells and anemia, he was given an antibiotic shot. To get back to a doctor we knew and trusted, we limped back to Illinois, Devin taking the trip in two days while my Mom met us half way to finish the drive with myself and the children. More tests came back negative. He's been on 4 antibiotics total, not including the antibiotic shot. A CT scan on June 21st showed swollen lymph nodes around his heart - a much better diagnosis than we expected, at least! We have paid for all of these tests and doctors visits entirely out of pocket with a slush fund we had built, but it is rapidly declining and we know more bills are coming as we tackle lymphoma.
Devin is a brilliant 26 year old McGyver, loving learning. You can often find dozens of tabs open with Wikipedia entries. He's a great father, bottle feeding our daughter every single night while I pumped for her. He's frustrated to be down, not able to play with his children and struggling to even eat or drive our rig to pay our bills.
Not being able to pay for our own medical bills is embarrassing for us. Still, I'd rather swallow my pride because losing my husband, my best friend, and the father my children deserve is much worse. We appreciate any help we are offered and cannot thank everyone enough for the love everyone has shared to help our family through this. We know Devin will beat this!
Organizer
Kimberly Standish
Organizer
Matteson, IL
