Help the Thom Family Overcome Medical Challenges

Hello! My name is Ashley Thom. My husband Ryan and I have 8 precious kiddos together: six boys aged 11, 9, 7, 5, 4, and 2, and two girls aged 8 and 3.

Here is our story...

This year has been a whirlwind of nonstop uncertainty and health complications for all of us. In April, I went into the hospital with horrible side pain. I got a CT scan, and a lesion was found on the tail of my pancreas. At first, doctors said I would need to have a distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy (removal of the tail of the pancreas and spleen), but after an MRI, it was determined to be a cyst, and now they don't want to do surgery just yet. I'm still in pain and living with a constant fear of what this cyst could become. I have a follow-up with a pancreas center in Denver, where hopefully I'll get more answers.

A few weeks later, while at work, Ryan began having chest pains and went unconscious. Thank God for his work buddies who acted fast and got him help. He was transported to the hospital, where he was told he had a minor cardiac episode, probably due to the overwhelming stress he's been under. We will hopefully get more answers on that soon. Ryan has also been struggling with bad stomach pains associated with IBS, and finding food that won't hurt his belly has been a challenge.

Next, at the beginning of May, our 11-year-old boy got very sick with RSV and double pneumonia. Then our 9-year-old boy got it, and now it's been very slowly, over the last six weeks, going through all of the kids and Ryan, with our girls being in the worst condition. Currently, our 8-year-old girl is home on oxygen, and our 3-year-old girl has been in the hospital for 4 days, going on 5. She is struggling to keep her oxygen levels up.

It feels like it's one thing after another, and we can't catch our breath (literally). Our kids are struggling, we're struggling.

To top it all off, our stove broke, the glass top shattered for no rhyme or reason. Our elderly bulldog Frankie is struggling too. He's riddled with arthritis and has now lost complete control of his bladder. We know we don't have much time left with him.

It truly feels like our family is under attack.

Given all of these events, Ryan has missed a lot of work, used up all of his sick time, and we've depleted our savings. Ryan has applied for FMLA and FLMI for help with income, but it will take some time to get approved.

This is the very last thing we want to do, but we're asking for help with funds to hold us over until the assistance gets approved.

Anyone who knows us will tell you that we are not the kind of people to ask for help or handouts. The Lord has blessed us with so much that we are normally able to help others and don't need help ourselves, but this is one of those times where we have to set our pride aside.

These funds will help us make a house payment and get caught up on our utility bills.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. We are very grateful for any prayers and donations given to us in our time of need.