Help Kevin Battle Heart Failure and from becoming Homeless

Hello,

My 59year old disabled brother Kevin has been waiting 498 days for a determination by Social Security Disability as his medical and financial conditions continue to deteriorate. 

He is currently being evicted from his home and his medical bills are climbing into the 10's of 1000's of dollars. 

After many hospitalizations between 2019 and 2024, Kevin was finally correctly diagnosed with left ventricular cardiac hypertrophy in 2022.  He also has frequent bouts of Atrial fibrillation (A-Fib) each month and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

His first heart attack happened in 2019 in New York. After a week’s stay in the hospital, which consisted of multiple tests, cardioversions, etc., he was subscribed nine different medications and sent home without a root cause of his heart issues.

Two days later, he was rushed back to the hospital by ambulance because of a severe interaction with one of the medications.

Kevin was admitted to the same New York hospital seven more times throughout the year.  He battled congestive heart failure and severe bouts of a-fib, leaving him completely physically exhausted with just trying to breathe.   He received a cardiac stent and sent home on a cocktail of new medications.  There was still no concrete answer as to what the absolute nature of his heart issues were.

In 2020, he lived on the cocktail of 14 medications and was essentially bed-ridden from January to July.  He relied on family to bring his groceries, pick up his medications etc.   He lived alone and we were all afraid if he had another heart attack, he may not be able to call 911 because of his weakened state.   So, August of that year, I helped him move to South Carolina so he can live with his son.

He was rushed to a hospital in South Carolina in early 2021 because he was struggling to breathe. The hospital misdiagnosed him as to having a thyroid condition and prescribed medication of which interacted with the 14 other prescribed medications.  Kevin had a severe allergic reaction and remained at the hospital for an extended time.

In 2022, I moved my brother to where I live in Florida and became his health care proxy.  

July of that year, he was rushed to a Florida hospital and diagnosed with congestive heart failure again.  Basically, his heart was not adequately pumping blood through out his body and it was filling his left lung instead.

After a week of testing, he was correctly diagnosed with left ventricular cardiac hypertrophy and ischemic heart disease.  

“Left ventricular cardiac hypertrophy is an abnormal increase in the mass of the myocardium of the left ventricle induced by a chronically elevated workload on the heart muscle. Once developed, puts the patient at significant risk for the development of heart failure, dysrhythmias, and sudden death.” -National Library of Medicine

After a 10-day stay, he was discharged with a whole new list of 14 costly prescribed medications.

In May of 2023 and May of 2024, Kevin battled congestive heart failure again and spent eight days in the hospital each time. His pulmonologist assigned him to test for sleep apnea.

The result indicated he has severe sleep apnea: 202 episodes of not breathing during almost seven hours of sleep causing his oxygen intake to drop below 90% more than 70 times.

He has to use a bi-pap machine almost all the time which is costly as well as the 14 medications.

Also in 2024, he was admitted to the same Florida hospital for 8 days because of severe edema even though he was on two prescribed diuretics. His legs became so swollen the skin burst in several places which needed emergency attention.

 

Kevin was recently served an eviction notice and he is inundated with hospital and medical bills because he cannot work and savings are exhausted.

He never thought he would ever be in the position of possibly becoming homeless.

In 2023, he hired an attorney who specializes in social security disability insurance (SSDI) cases, and filed his application for SSDI on November 29, 2023.   

498 days ago.

And despite our consistent outreach to the Social Security Administration, there is no way to know how much longer he will have to wait.

The goal of raising money will prevent homelessness, assist in paying for medications and medical bills.

We understand there are people with worse life-threatening events. But he is in a desperate situation and appreciates every donation no matter how small. My brother started working at 9years-old bagging groceries. He spent most of his life employed and helping people.

To become reliant on the kindness of strangers while waiting on social security is something he never expected but is greatly appreciative so he does not become homeless.

Thank you for reading.