Hi, I'm Mindy Grubbs. Years ago, I sprained my ankle. I was told it was a light sprain and I'd be okay. Over the years, my ankle got worse, swelling as large as a tennis ball at times. I was persuaded by family to fix it. It took me 5 different doctors to find one that did TAR surgery (total ankle replacement), a surgery that involves removing whatever old parts you have remaining, shaving the bone, and reconstructing the ankle with parts. I was told my ankle probably never had a sprain but a severe fracture. I lived 30 years with debilitating pain. My ankle had no tendons or cartilage remaining, and some bone had worn away.

A few bone spurs also, so I was told to get this procedure that takes about 6 months to heal, involving braces, boots, crutches, and physical therapy. Several steps. I've currently had 4 surgeries since January and another one coming up. I'm in excruciating pain which is unexplainable. Every time I try to get to the next step in healing, I fall back to step one all over again (not because of me). The first surgery seemed to go great, but by week 3, my skin died, requiring surgery 2 to get a skin graft, which almost totally healed. But when the sutures were removed, one got stuck, leaving us to now. I got a staph infection from the sutures removal and received another surgery, then another right after that one. The infection was caught just in time, or I would have lost my foot. It ate the grafts completely down to my tendons. So that cost me a week hospital stay to get rid of the infection, which almost got in my bone. Now I am at step one. My first surgery was in January, so to now be at step one is devastating. It will be another year before I walk or drive. I'm currently wearing a pump hooked to my wound to help heal. I'm back on bed rest.

So going from there, I'm not a person that likes to ask for help. I always try to handle everything on my own. This has taken me down and out. I'm stressed about bills, money, food, wear and tear on my older car getting to the doctor once a week who is located near Six Flags outside of Atlanta. It's a stressful situation, even worse knowing there's not a lot I can do financially, and my husband has to take care of me. If I fall, we are at step one again or worse, amputation. There's just a lot on my plate. I'm asking for whatever you can give—$20 for gas, gift cards for food, just anything really—because it has been an extremely hard struggle for our family. I know God's got this, but my pocket does not, and I know if I wasn't so stressed, I could possibly heal faster. If you can't help, prayers would also be great. Thank you for your time.