Help Ray and Rick with emergency medical expenses

This is one of the most difficult and humbling notes we’ve ever had to write, but we need help. We’ve had a rough start to the new year and are now faced with some crushing medical bills that we didn’t expect to be dealing with.

As many of you know, we’ve both been dealing with major health issues for several years. Rick had major back surgery two years ago, which never fully healed, and caused additional complications. Ray has been dealing with a major fistula in his colon for nearly 4 years that has required 31 surgical procedures and 12 hospitalizations – including a nearly month-long hospital stay in fall of 2022. He has been working with some of the leading experts in the country, who have called it the most complex case they have ever seen. Then as we all celebrated New Years and the start of 2024, our hopes for a new happy and healthy start were dashed.

Rick finally had his follow up spine surgery where they had to fuse 4 vertebrae. We had planned for this and budgeted for him to be off work with no income for an extended period. Then over New Years he had a complication from pain that resulted in 2 unbudgeted nights in the hospital. And now, he requires an additional unplanned surgery and hospitalization that is currently scheduled for February 1.

Meanwhile, Ray was feeling optimistic as a surgical procedure in September appeared to finally fix his fistula. So in December, doctors decided to reverse the ostomy he had been living with for nearly 18 months. Initial prognosis was optimistic, and it appeared the 4-year health saga was finally over. Unfortunately, it was not to be. While Rick was in the hospital over New Years, Ray started feeling unwell and on January 3 he was admitted to the hospital with another life threatening abscess. He had the initial signs of sepsis and was taken into emergency surgery to save his life. Then 4 days later, in an experience much too traumatic and graphic to share here, a new fistula formed, and he underwent another emergency surgery. These were surgeries #32 and #33 to deal with his horrible condition. Ultimately, he spent more than a week in the hospital again. Likely, he will undergo multiple additional surgeries over the coming months but plans for those are still on hold while his body heals from the immediate situation.

This is where we need your help. These sudden and unexpected complications have left us with overwhelming medical expenses. We’ve been able to scrape by over the last few years relying on money we had in personal savings, which are now depleted. Ray hasn’t been able work in almost two years because of the constant medical appointments and surgeries.Thinking he was at the end of things, he had finally accepted a job – but that was supposed to start while he ended up in the hospital and they could not hold the position for him. And Rick was supposed to be off work for 12 weeks that now may turn into 18 weeks or more. Further, we were forced to close our business for 2 weeks in January (we do not have any employees that help us in the shop), leaving us without revenue there for that time while business expenses continued to accrue. We are working on getting government and/or charitable assistance but those doors continue to close because we have health insurance and Rick’s normal income when he is working puts us just above the line to qualify for straight up charity assistance. We are desperately trying to avoid declaring bankruptcy and closing the business we’ve worked so hard to build over the past few years. But even then, we will have depleted our savings and still be out of work without ability to earn income for the immediate time being.

Right now we have approximately $10,000 in unplanned medical expenses. This includes the deductible (which had just reset on Jan 1 as all this was happening), the copays up to our maximum out of pocket for the year, and some equipment/supplies that are required but not covered by our insurance. Having this covered will allow us to use short term disability insurance and what little cash we have in our checking account to cover the next couple of months of living expenses while we regroup financially and carve a new path forward that is financially sustainable for us and still gets us the necessary medical treatment we desperately need.

And lastly… thank you. This was not an easy decision to come to that we would go public with our struggles and ask for help. It is with total humility and thanks that we do so. We know times are tough for lots of people and we would never make this request other than under the extreme (and even bizarre) circumstances we find ourselves in. For any help and support you can give we will be eternally grateful. Thank you so so much.

Ray and Rick