Help Joe Bird deal with Crohns Disease!

Friends and family,

This is the younger Bird brother, Josh Bird, narrating this story. I am the younger of two sons of Kim and Dan Bird. I am 26 years old and my older brother, Joe Bird, is 31. My brother has been by my side since the day I was literally born. He has remained my protector, my confidant, my greatest friend (and foe at times), and my role model since I entered this world. Joe called me on a Friday night in January after his most recent 8-day hospital stint due to multiple throat lacerations that were eaten away by stomach acid, and intestinal blockage. This was the fourth time Joe was admitted to the hospital within the past three months. Joe spoke to me quietly, humbly requesting assistance with writing a “Go Fund Me” caption for a page to assist in raising funds geared toward his cost of living expenses including hospital bills, utility/housing payments, and Joe’s ability to afford adequate nutrition. I further conversed with Joe and together we reflected upon Joe’s sense of pride, his embarrassment of reaching out for financial support, and his subjective perceptions of feeling unworthy of support. Joe Bird spoke to me with remorse, conversing of his shame asking for “handouts” when in reality, Joe has been crippled for a majority of his life due to underlying medical conditions. Some of you may know and others may not, but Joe has been living fearlessly with the autoimmune disorder, Crohn's Disease, since he was diagnosed at 12 years old, and although undiagnosed, living with Crohn’s Disease has always been a portion of Joe’s reality since birth. Crohn’s manifests itself in quiet manners, presenting particularly within the GI tract, where a person’s immune system wages war upon its own body, causing chronic inflammation, leading to ulcers, blockages, and symptoms outside of the internal GI tract such as fevers, vomiting, and fatigue. This is the “normal” reality of living with Crohn's Disease.

Joe has experienced constant symptoms for as long as I can remember, continuing on with everyday functioning such as attending school, working full shifts at the Wheaton Meat Market, and providing manual labor for others. I remember several times Joe was too ill to leave his bed except to relieve himself or throw up, and in recent years, I’ve witnessed Joe become a husk of his previous self through the battering Crohn’s Disease inflicted upon Joe’s body and, in turn, spirit. Within the past 6 months, Joe has become unable to work full-time due to the severity of his disease, and Joe does not blame Crohn’s. Joe blames himself for his “laziness” and his inability to follow through on work, as it depicts a bad image based upon Joe’s high ethical standards of himself. Despite Joe’s fatal flaw of rugged individualism and ability to overcome adversity through any means necessary, Joe called me, reaching out for help typing up a quip for his “Go Fund Me '' page. I don’t want to just help Joe with some grammar fixes and persuasive language as he attempts to narrate his story, because he will downplay his own strife. I, Josh Bird, narrate a small sliver of my brother’s struggle to share with others. Despite my ability to write a novel describing the physical and mental hurdles Joe has jumped over to carry on and move forward in life, I am only allowed a limited number of words. Sadly, these limited words do not do justice to properly explain the urgency of Joe's need for community support, and the feelings I have while writing this brief description of Joe's lifelong battle. As Joe grew up, adapted, evolved, and matured, I grew up vicariously experiencing his pain. I now reach out to others with complete transparency, asking for my brother’s financial assistance. Joe Bird, who is known around Wheaton and Carol Stream as the man that would give someone the shirt off his back, now needs help of his own. Please consider supporting Joe’s mission of being able to securely and safely afford his cost of living expenses. Thank you for considering the option of helping Joe Bird reach his goal of raising $7,600 for his various livelihood, medical, and housing needs.

With Gratitude,

Josh Bird