Help Sue Live with MS
Donation protected
About Sue and MS
Sue Hudson is a wife, mother of three, grandmother of five, and business partner with her husband Dave. She used to be a busy independent woman until fifteen years ago when she was diagnosed with MS. MS (Multiple Sclerosis ) is a disease that damages the brain and central nervous system.
Sue's world has become progressively smaller as the disease has effected more muscles in her body. There is no cure for MS and doctors do not know what causes MS. More women than men have MS.
Sue's MS specialists have prescribed medications that require daily injection or infusions (hours-long IV drug drips). These treatments don't stop the disease, only attempt to modify the disease. There are 16 different medications available today. Sue's used three of them as her symptoms have worsened.
What Can Be Done to Help?
Expenses to live with MS are steep. MS drugs can cost $50,000 a year and usually are not covered by insurance. The drug companies do have financial assistance plans to help cover the cost.
Mobility aids like a standard wheelchair don't allow her to easily move inside the house and get out to a vehicle. Her husband Dave recently built the custom ramp you see below to make it possible to get Sue outside and back instead of carrying her.
Sue's MS disabilities have become steadily worse over the years. First a cane, then a walker-frame, now a wheelchair to get around - with help. She's not able to move inside or outside without assistance and needs 24/7, 365 days help from Dave, family, and paid care-givers to help dress, bathe, use the toilet, prepare meals and transfer her from one spot to another.
MS attacks the nerves that control muscles needed for standing, moving, lifting. Everyday personal tasks, like putting on socks, have become impossible. Everything involves assistance. She can't work anymore and Dave has to get Sue to and from doctor and hospital appointments.
How will My Donation Help Sue?
First - Your donations to this campaign will help pay for the accessibility changes to Sue and Dave's home (like the ramp) to adapt it for her to continue to safely live at home and make it a easier for her care-givers. Door openings and hallways become barriers. Steps turn into cliffs and beds into soft prisons if you have MS. Dave says that each room is getting repurposed so furniture that is too big will have to go and replaced with smaller drawers and cabinets. Room-to-room thresholds will be added since the floors are not level with each other. Some changes to the home's driveway is needed also.
Dave will do most of the work, with friends lending a hand to the projects.
Second - Your contributions will help pay for a multi-function power chair (see above) that will help Sue move around their home. The chair shown above costs about $22,000 but Sue and Dave are hoping their share will be much lower after Medicare pays a big share. Lots of paperwork was required but Dave is now just waiting to hear back from the agency.
Dave is her primary care-giver and that takes him away from "Super Dave", his home-repair handyman business . Anyone who has cared for an elderly parent or spouse knows how exhausting it can be. When he is at home then he's not at a job site to earn money. It was a Super Dave job at my own home where I first met Sue, years ago, when she was using her steady hand to paint an exterior door on my home while Dave was up a ladder doing the trim. Sue can't do that any longer; Super Dave misses his best worker on jobs - Sue.
Spread The Word by Sharing
Sue needs our help Now. We can help in two ways.
Please Contribute to the campaign and Share this GoFundMe with your friends and family on Facebook, Twitter and by email. On Facebook, Tag some of your friends so they will take notice of the campaign.
I'll update this site as donations come in.
Thank You.
PS - be sure to see two updates with photos that were added on August 26, 2018
Sue Hudson is a wife, mother of three, grandmother of five, and business partner with her husband Dave. She used to be a busy independent woman until fifteen years ago when she was diagnosed with MS. MS (Multiple Sclerosis ) is a disease that damages the brain and central nervous system.
Sue's world has become progressively smaller as the disease has effected more muscles in her body. There is no cure for MS and doctors do not know what causes MS. More women than men have MS.
Sue's MS specialists have prescribed medications that require daily injection or infusions (hours-long IV drug drips). These treatments don't stop the disease, only attempt to modify the disease. There are 16 different medications available today. Sue's used three of them as her symptoms have worsened.
What Can Be Done to Help?
Expenses to live with MS are steep. MS drugs can cost $50,000 a year and usually are not covered by insurance. The drug companies do have financial assistance plans to help cover the cost.
Mobility aids like a standard wheelchair don't allow her to easily move inside the house and get out to a vehicle. Her husband Dave recently built the custom ramp you see below to make it possible to get Sue outside and back instead of carrying her.
Sue's MS disabilities have become steadily worse over the years. First a cane, then a walker-frame, now a wheelchair to get around - with help. She's not able to move inside or outside without assistance and needs 24/7, 365 days help from Dave, family, and paid care-givers to help dress, bathe, use the toilet, prepare meals and transfer her from one spot to another.
MS attacks the nerves that control muscles needed for standing, moving, lifting. Everyday personal tasks, like putting on socks, have become impossible. Everything involves assistance. She can't work anymore and Dave has to get Sue to and from doctor and hospital appointments.
How will My Donation Help Sue?
First - Your donations to this campaign will help pay for the accessibility changes to Sue and Dave's home (like the ramp) to adapt it for her to continue to safely live at home and make it a easier for her care-givers. Door openings and hallways become barriers. Steps turn into cliffs and beds into soft prisons if you have MS. Dave says that each room is getting repurposed so furniture that is too big will have to go and replaced with smaller drawers and cabinets. Room-to-room thresholds will be added since the floors are not level with each other. Some changes to the home's driveway is needed also.
Dave will do most of the work, with friends lending a hand to the projects.
Second - Your contributions will help pay for a multi-function power chair (see above) that will help Sue move around their home. The chair shown above costs about $22,000 but Sue and Dave are hoping their share will be much lower after Medicare pays a big share. Lots of paperwork was required but Dave is now just waiting to hear back from the agency.
Dave is her primary care-giver and that takes him away from "Super Dave", his home-repair handyman business . Anyone who has cared for an elderly parent or spouse knows how exhausting it can be. When he is at home then he's not at a job site to earn money. It was a Super Dave job at my own home where I first met Sue, years ago, when she was using her steady hand to paint an exterior door on my home while Dave was up a ladder doing the trim. Sue can't do that any longer; Super Dave misses his best worker on jobs - Sue.
Spread The Word by Sharing
Sue needs our help Now. We can help in two ways.
Please Contribute to the campaign and Share this GoFundMe with your friends and family on Facebook, Twitter and by email. On Facebook, Tag some of your friends so they will take notice of the campaign.
I'll update this site as donations come in.
Thank You.
PS - be sure to see two updates with photos that were added on August 26, 2018
Organizer and beneficiary
Larry Nolan
Organizer
Lemay, MO
Dave Hudson
Beneficiary