Hello!

My name is Kloey and I started this GoFundMe to help raise money to go toward medical expenses and basic necessities for my parents, Joe and Kelly Baker.

Since my dad was 2 years old, he has been dealing with diabetes and the complications that accompany this disease. Within the past couple of years, his diabetes has affected the way his body heals.

In late 2021, he found a sore on his right pinky toe that resulted in the amputation of that toe and eventually the 4th toe as well. They discovered the reason the sore wouldn't heal was because he was not getting good blood flow to his foot due to having 3 blood clots below his right knee. He underwent surgery in early 2022 to put a stent in his leg but the damage was already done and he was left with only 3 toes on his right foot. That year, he would spend his 49th birthday in the hospital.

Fast forward to now. A couple months ago he found another sore on his 3rd toe and knew that this would need to be looked at immediately. His foot doctor was worried that he wasn't getting good blood flow to that foot again and upon further testing, we would find out that he was right. The stent in dad's right leg was blocked and he would need another surgery to clear it.

So March 24, 2025 dad would undergo an outpatient surgery that was only supposed to last up to 3 hours but due to complications, it lasted closer to 5. After his surgery, while dad was still in recovery resting, the doctor told my mom that my dad has a rare blood clotting disorder called Antiphospholipid Syndrome that caused blood clots to immediately form every time the doctor removed one. It was also at this moment he told my mom that if his condition didn't improve by the morning, my dad would lose his leg.

My dad woke up after surgery admitted into the ICU with 2 BIG IVs in his foot and groin pumping his arteries full of blood thinner and he was told that he would not being going home that night like he had originally planned. Instead, he was to remain in the hospital, laying solely on his back, only able to look at the ceiling for the whole night and most of the next day to make sure the IVs did what they needed to do.

My mom and I went to see him the next day, and on the way to the hospital we got the call we had been waiting for. The IVs worked and dad would be keeping his leg! His foot doctor was hopeful that restoring the blood flow to his foot would heal the sore on his 3rd toe but after a couple of days with no improvement, he decided that he had to take dad's 3rd toe as well. Although the blood flow had improved and his foot was looking good after the amputation, he had to remain in the hospital for a couple more days so they could monitor the blood flow and make sure it remained as it should.

While my dad was in the hospital, my mom would get off of work at 4:30pm and drive to Murfreesboro to spend a few hours with dad and then would make it home at around 10pm-11pm to then get up and make it to work by 7:30am just so she could do it all over again the next day.

A week later, dad finally got to come home but he didn't get to stay for long. Only a couple of days after coming home, my mom had to call the ambulance to come get him because they thought he had a bowel obstruction. So he landed himself back in the hospital, no big IVs this time, instead he had a tube going down his nose to release the excess gas from his intestines. So began the same routine of mom leaving work to go spend a couple of hours with dad and then come home late so she could get up and go to work the next morning.

Dad was eventually released a couple days later and finally got to come home and actually rest for the first time in weeks.

His healing journey is not over yet. We are in the process of trying to get him an insulin pump to help manage his diabetes better because the more out of control his sugar is, the harder it is on his body to heal.

My dad's work no longer offers short term disability and he was denied for his insurance's "Critical Illness" due to amputation not being on the list of covered critical illnesses so at this time, my dad is earning no income so all the finances are falling on my mom. But where my mom has had to take off to take care of dad and take him to appointments, money is tight right now.

My mom has started the process of filing for disability for him but that process can take up to a year and during this time he will have no income.

I know there are a lot of people who care about my parents and would do anything to help them and for that I am grateful. If you know them, you know they are not the type to ask for help of any kind from anybody, but they really need the help. I know they are both wore out from all of this even if they don't show it.

I know times are hard for everyone right now and I know the magnitude of what I'm asking. Even if you can't donate, please share with your family, friends, co-workers, church groups, anyone and everyone you can think of to get the word out, that would help us immensely!

Any little bit helps!

Thank you so much!