My mother-in-law, Mickey (McMillen), is going in at the beginning of June to have her diaphragm operated on. The past 12 months or more, she has been having difficulty breathing, and it is affecting her quality of life. She is on oxygen, and some days, breathing is a huge chore. She learned several months ago that her diaphragm is not positioned correctly, and this is causing a lot of trouble with her breathing.

She is having surgery in Rochester in hopes that they can move her diaphragm and tack it correctly in place. They believe that this is a rare disorder and it affects very few people. The surgery would likely increase her ability to breathe up to 50 percent, which, if it does, would give Mickey a much better quality of day-to-day life than she currently has.

The doctors at Rochester expect her to be in the hospital for up to a week. Eric, her husband, would stay up in Rochester to be by her side. They have already looked into discount hotels and "Ronald McDonald"-like places for Eric to stay, but there is still a cost associated with these places, plus food, gas, and parking costs for the hospital each day. The hope is that she will come back towards home after a week and be in a nursing facility for 5 to 6 weeks.

Mickey and Eric are both retired and are on a fixed income, which doesn't allow for a lot of extras. They need help so that Eric can be there and Mickey can get this much-needed surgery. Any amount is so appreciated.

If you made it this far in the reading, thank you for your kindness and helping out Eric and Mickey, who are always selfless and try to help others whenever needed.