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April 25th, 2005. Leaving me paralyzed from the chest down as well as 18 broken bones, 2 blood transfusions and 3 emergency surgeries. I barely survived. Fast forward to December 15th, 2016. After years in a chair and lots of living my life with my family and kids to the best of my abilities It came to yet another screeching halt. I have started hemorrhaging blood one night prior to bed. A tremendous amount of blood that would not stop. Had to call 911 and be taken by ambulance to Sutter Hospital which led to an emergency surgery 30 minutes upon my arrival. Turns out I had some pretty nasty ulcers including Ulcerative colitis. Two ulcers had gotten so bad they Perforated my stomach which cause the excessive bleeding that landed me in the hospital. After 2 surgeries in a 4 day stay I returned home. A week later I had to make another ER visit because my gallbladder had ruptured and leaked acid into my body cavity which made me sick in addition needing another emergency surgery to have it removed. Came back home after a 5 day stay to make sure I could eat and pass food I got to come home. I was home yet another week to 10 days and I had to have another surgery due to a severely painful blockage in my intestines. Upon those tests it turned out I needed another surgery and a partial removal of my intestinal tract that was in bad shape from scar tissue build up and a riddle of ulcers. I stayed in the hospital another 5 days to ensure I could eat and pass food yet again, after 5 days of eating with no passing I was told I would be at risk of major life threatening problems if I did not have a 5th surgery to pull my colon through my stomach wall for a colostomy bag. After 2 attempts of colostomy placement and 5 surgeries I was finally clear to get back to my regular life. Prior to this I was working out like crazy and wheeling laps around howarth park. Riding my hand bicycle and getting into just about anything that would challenge me physically. After all of these surgeries I need to change my diet drastically and allow time to heal. I lost 70 unhealthy pounds and felt great. Problem is I shrank and needed a smaller chair. Since 2016, I have gotten my diet down and been able to stay lean and feeling back to my old self again until I got diagnosed with a bone disease that has no cure called osteoporosis. I have it pretty bad. In addition, C3,C4 and C7 in my neck vertebrae are all herniated as well as significant disc degeneration. My T3 and T10 are also severely herniated with degeneration on those areas as well as well as spinal arthritis and stress fractures to my lumbar spine, hips and femurs due to the advancement of my osteoporosis. In a short amount of time my life had changed drastically and my ability to get around day to day as well as the ability to be physically active as I once was has been halted by my inadequate wheelchair. The one I had prior to this was way too big and risked me gaining a hernia due to the surgical breach in my stomach wall (colostomy bag) and further stress fractures from my extreme osteoporosis. Not to mention the risk of further herniating my disc to damage my spinal cord from my neck down which would leave me permanently bed bound. I didn’t want to do this. I don’t like asking for help especially when it comes to asking for money. But I need help, I just want to keep up with my kids and my family as well as take care of myself and be able to walk my dog and not risk my health any further using this unsafe wheelchair I am stuck in now. My wife and family, close friends have talked me into doing this which I am finally giving into. I pray to just get this goal met quickly so that I can resume a happy and healthy life with my family. Thank you for your consideration and reading my story.
Benjamin Fox-
Benjamin Fox-
Organizer
