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Help Josh Medin and Kathleen Fuller with Medical Bills
Intro
Around the beginning of March last year, Josh Medin went to the doctor for what appeared to be a sinus infection. Two days later he was hospitalized for what was actually acute leukemia -- and transferred to an out-of-town hospital to find a specialist who could treat his condition.
His wife Kathleen followed him to Springfield to help with navigating the hospital system and bureaucracy, but they don’t have any close friends or relatives in the Springfield area, so Kathleen’s living in a nearby hotel and coordinating medical needs with visits from friends and relatives from there.
This year, Josh's leukemia has returned, and while he's strong and healthy going in, his doctors are taking no chances this time; they're planning to perform a bone marrow transplant when a suitable donor can be found.
The situation
The good news is that Josh’s form of leukemia has a very good prognosis for being treatable.
The bad news is that Josh is their family’s sole source of income, and he’ll be hospitalized for ongoing chemotherapy treatments for several months thereafter. When he receives his transplant, he'll need to stay within an hour's trip of the hospital in St. Louis for around 4 months, meaning he won't be able to resume his job in Champaign-Urbana.
So they’ve gone from a pizza management budget to extraordinary medical expenses and no income in about a week.
What insurance doesn’t cover
While Josh and Kathleen are incredibly grateful to have ACA insurance coverage, there’s a lot that insurance doesn’t cover.
Insurance doesn’t cover their rent, food, and living expenses.
Insurance doesn’t cover the costs of travel to a different city and housing there for treatment.
There is no guarantee that any particular medical expense will be covered by insurance, and the potential costs could be huge. On top of that, there’s no guarantee of how long they’ll even have insurance.
Helping hands
Josh and Kathleen are well known in the area’s restaurant and entertainment circles, having lived here for 20+ years and being involved with local restaurants, the Amasong women’s choir, the Champaign-Urbana Theater Company, mystery dinner theater productions, the Gopher Mafia and Winter War game communities, the Japanese Animation Club and Anime Central fan communities, and more. They’ve also made friends around the world through the RPGnet community and Josh’s hobbies of indie RPG design and programming.
If you have fond memories of One World Pizza’s international pizza repertoire, particularly the Korean kimchi and bulgogi beef pizza or the Indian vegetarian pizzas? Those were Josh’s.
If you’ve listened to Amasong’s music or participated in a murder mystery on the Titanic, you’ve heard Kathleen’s voice too.
Please help lend a hand so that when Josh comes home, they’ll have one less thing to worry about knowing their friends can help them recover from this as well.
Who I Am
I'm Doug, Josh and Kathleen's housemate in Champaign. I've known them since college (nearly 30 years in Josh's case) and have shared a house with them since 2001. The funds will be used for the joint bank account we share for living expenses, to make up for Josh's lack of income.
Intro
Around the beginning of March last year, Josh Medin went to the doctor for what appeared to be a sinus infection. Two days later he was hospitalized for what was actually acute leukemia -- and transferred to an out-of-town hospital to find a specialist who could treat his condition.
His wife Kathleen followed him to Springfield to help with navigating the hospital system and bureaucracy, but they don’t have any close friends or relatives in the Springfield area, so Kathleen’s living in a nearby hotel and coordinating medical needs with visits from friends and relatives from there.
This year, Josh's leukemia has returned, and while he's strong and healthy going in, his doctors are taking no chances this time; they're planning to perform a bone marrow transplant when a suitable donor can be found.
The situation
The good news is that Josh’s form of leukemia has a very good prognosis for being treatable.
The bad news is that Josh is their family’s sole source of income, and he’ll be hospitalized for ongoing chemotherapy treatments for several months thereafter. When he receives his transplant, he'll need to stay within an hour's trip of the hospital in St. Louis for around 4 months, meaning he won't be able to resume his job in Champaign-Urbana.
So they’ve gone from a pizza management budget to extraordinary medical expenses and no income in about a week.
What insurance doesn’t cover
While Josh and Kathleen are incredibly grateful to have ACA insurance coverage, there’s a lot that insurance doesn’t cover.
Insurance doesn’t cover their rent, food, and living expenses.
Insurance doesn’t cover the costs of travel to a different city and housing there for treatment.
There is no guarantee that any particular medical expense will be covered by insurance, and the potential costs could be huge. On top of that, there’s no guarantee of how long they’ll even have insurance.
Helping hands
Josh and Kathleen are well known in the area’s restaurant and entertainment circles, having lived here for 20+ years and being involved with local restaurants, the Amasong women’s choir, the Champaign-Urbana Theater Company, mystery dinner theater productions, the Gopher Mafia and Winter War game communities, the Japanese Animation Club and Anime Central fan communities, and more. They’ve also made friends around the world through the RPGnet community and Josh’s hobbies of indie RPG design and programming.
If you have fond memories of One World Pizza’s international pizza repertoire, particularly the Korean kimchi and bulgogi beef pizza or the Indian vegetarian pizzas? Those were Josh’s.
If you’ve listened to Amasong’s music or participated in a murder mystery on the Titanic, you’ve heard Kathleen’s voice too.
Please help lend a hand so that when Josh comes home, they’ll have one less thing to worry about knowing their friends can help them recover from this as well.
Who I Am
I'm Doug, Josh and Kathleen's housemate in Champaign. I've known them since college (nearly 30 years in Josh's case) and have shared a house with them since 2001. The funds will be used for the joint bank account we share for living expenses, to make up for Josh's lack of income.