Last Tuesday, my wife Vicki had an accident. While walking to the bathroom, her knee gave out. Even though I was helping her, she fell, and her left leg folded underneath her as she hit the floor. We heard a loud pop, and she was in immediate, excruciating pain.

Why did her knee buckle? Over the past 15 years, Vicki has undergone eight surgeries on her left knee. The first, meant to keep her kneecap from moving out of place, was a disaster and didn’t help at all, taking over six months to recover from. Last year, doctors performed a complete knee replacement. Things seemed better, but recovery was slower than expected. Multiple doctor visits revealed she had a Staph infection, requiring emergency surgery to clean and disinfect the knee. The hardware was replaced, and with a month of IV antibiotics her recovery went better this time.

After so many surgeries, she has severe muscle atrophy in her left leg. She had just started physical therapy last week to rebuild strength in her left leg.

Where are we now? After spending 36 hours in the ER following the fall, X-rays showed her left tibia was fractured and her fibula broken in three places.

What does this mean? She faces 12 weeks of no weight-bearing. Right now, she can’t get in or out of bed alone, needs help moving around, getting to the bathroom, bathing. I’ve been unemployed since last April. To help supplement our income I've been doing Door Dash for the last several months. Vicki's condition requires 24/7 care I'm unable to get out to Door Dash. If I'm not present to provide care for her, she'll have to go to a nursing home. Neither one of us want that to happen. This puts us in a very difficult situation of no income for the next few months.

We know the holidays are here and finances are generally tight for everyone. Any financial help would mean so much to us. Even a get-well card could lift Vicki’s spirits—she’s already starting toward major depression. And is constantly worried about our financial situation.

Please feel free to call with any questions: (458) [phone redacted].

Thank you!! God Bless!!

Lyle & Vicki Linschied

6650 NW 61st Street

Redmond, OR. 97756