Help for the Stevenses
Donation protected
Hi All,
On Sunday, June 9th, during a family gathering at our house, Carson tried to keep our 80 lb dog from running down the stairs and into the crowd in the living room. He grabbed Cotter's collar and heard a pop - it was his biceps tendon tearing. He knew it was bad and almost immediately went to urgent care, an MRI the next day, followed by an pre-op with a surgeon. He had surgery to repair the tear on Thursday, June 13th, and is, thankfully, on the road to recovery.
It's a long road, though, could be four months before he can use his arm in a regular way, and a year before he will have his strength back. This was his right arm, and he is a carpenter, a fisherman and hunter, and the main yard work dude on our nearly eight acre property.
He is also the main breadwinner in our house. We have a homestead business with a farm stand and the Makers and Growers Markets, plus the website (www.stevenshomestead.com) and other products for sales but, unfortunately, that is still building and isn't making much reliable money yet. We'd recently decided that Bridget would go back to work as an appraiser and a job is lined up and waiting for her, but she needs to do 80 hours of school first, which costs money... and time.
Surgery will cost us around $10,000. Thankfully, Everett Clinic has been amazingly helpful and will work with us to get that paid, but it's still an additional huge expense, coupled with a very significant (and painful) drop in income.
We have a hard time asking for help, but we just have no choice at this point. So many of you have offered help and we're so grateful. We're just now to the point that we can see and think about what we're going to need help with.
We're planning a couple of yard work parties to help with the things that Carson usually does - just short 3 hour sessions in hopes that people aren't missing their entire weekend or wearing themselves out completely. Three solid hours of work makes such a difference and we'll be so grateful for extra help!
We're planning a yard sale where we hope to make a little money selling things that we're not using and are just taking up space.
We're continuing our market the last Saturday of each month through September.
And, of course, we're going to need money - for Bridget's classes, for medical expenses and for living expenses. We have plans, and are going to do whatever we can to make money, but our expenses are significant and our income is, well, not. As hard as it is for us, we are putting aside our pride and putting this out there. No pressure, and no expectation... just a statement that we need help, and a way to help for those of you who have asked.
Thank you for reading this far. We are so grateful for all of you who have offered help and checked in with us and sent good thoughts and prayers and ideas. It means everything to us and it really does keep us moving forward!
On Sunday, June 9th, during a family gathering at our house, Carson tried to keep our 80 lb dog from running down the stairs and into the crowd in the living room. He grabbed Cotter's collar and heard a pop - it was his biceps tendon tearing. He knew it was bad and almost immediately went to urgent care, an MRI the next day, followed by an pre-op with a surgeon. He had surgery to repair the tear on Thursday, June 13th, and is, thankfully, on the road to recovery.
It's a long road, though, could be four months before he can use his arm in a regular way, and a year before he will have his strength back. This was his right arm, and he is a carpenter, a fisherman and hunter, and the main yard work dude on our nearly eight acre property.
He is also the main breadwinner in our house. We have a homestead business with a farm stand and the Makers and Growers Markets, plus the website (www.stevenshomestead.com) and other products for sales but, unfortunately, that is still building and isn't making much reliable money yet. We'd recently decided that Bridget would go back to work as an appraiser and a job is lined up and waiting for her, but she needs to do 80 hours of school first, which costs money... and time.
Surgery will cost us around $10,000. Thankfully, Everett Clinic has been amazingly helpful and will work with us to get that paid, but it's still an additional huge expense, coupled with a very significant (and painful) drop in income.
We have a hard time asking for help, but we just have no choice at this point. So many of you have offered help and we're so grateful. We're just now to the point that we can see and think about what we're going to need help with.
We're planning a couple of yard work parties to help with the things that Carson usually does - just short 3 hour sessions in hopes that people aren't missing their entire weekend or wearing themselves out completely. Three solid hours of work makes such a difference and we'll be so grateful for extra help!
We're planning a yard sale where we hope to make a little money selling things that we're not using and are just taking up space.
We're continuing our market the last Saturday of each month through September.
And, of course, we're going to need money - for Bridget's classes, for medical expenses and for living expenses. We have plans, and are going to do whatever we can to make money, but our expenses are significant and our income is, well, not. As hard as it is for us, we are putting aside our pride and putting this out there. No pressure, and no expectation... just a statement that we need help, and a way to help for those of you who have asked.
Thank you for reading this far. We are so grateful for all of you who have offered help and checked in with us and sent good thoughts and prayers and ideas. It means everything to us and it really does keep us moving forward!
Organizer
Bridget Tipton Stevens
Organizer
Stanwood, WA
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