Help me with medical bills and get my life back

Hello,

My name is Bret, and I have been on a 6-year journey to put my life and health together again.

In February 2016, I thought I had the flu. I was weak, chilled and could not even get out of bed. But, being a stubborn man, I did not even want to see a doctor. Aside from the flu-like symptoms, my right foot was an ugly shade of purple and green. So finally, my wife Tracy, who is more stubborn than me, made an appointment and said, "I'm taking you to the doctor." Arriving at the clinic, my wife got a wheelchair and pushed me in. The nurse who tried to take my blood pressure said it was too low to measure. The doctor came in, took one look at my foot, and called for another Doc to take a look. They both decided that I should go to the ER NOW!

We got to the ER and were rushed in like I had had a heart attack. They took one look at my foot, gave me some Demerol and told me they would check the blood flow to my foot. If I had blood flow, they possibly could save my foot; if not, they would need to amputate. Then, a podiatrist performed a stab incision and plunged a scalpel into my swollen foot. Even with the Demerol, this was a painful experience.

They found out that I did have good blood flow and decided to try and save my foot. There were complications. I had gangrene in my foot along with an MSRA infection, and my organs were starting to shut down because I also had sepsis.

After six weeks in the hospital and four surgeries, I got to go home with an open wound on my foot that required dressing changes 3-4 times per week for about four months. They had cut away enough of my foot that the tendons were visible. Finally, one day before my fiftieth birthday, I had skin graft surgery in June 2016.

Since then, I have struggled with open wounds and swelling in my foot and legs. Gradually getting worse, my right leg is swollen now, making walking very difficult.

Jumping forward to the present time, I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, sleep apnea, A small hole in my heart and vascular issues. I will need a leg compression machine, sleep apnea machine, and multiple surgeries to manage the a-fib. I have had over 25 appointments over the past few months and will continue with weekly visits to the clinic for a long time to come. I made a promise to myself that I would work very hard at getting better. I would love to vacation with my family again or even just go out to dinner with my wife. I want to golf with my youngest son Pat. I want to watch my son Matt play his guitar on stage again or do stand-up comedy. I'd love to watch my daughter Jen get her diploma from graduate school. I want my daughter Lily to realize all her dreams. I believe that all these things can become reality with some serious effort on my part.

New medical equipment, new medicines and constant co-payments are mounting expenses driving this request for monetary help. I can still work but miss a lot of time because of all of the appointments I have to go to.

Any assistance you can provide will be greatly appreciated by me and my family.

Thank you for reading.