"Irish Blessings" for Joe
Donation protected
The term "Luck of the Irish" is actually an expression used to explain why the Irish were successful after they emigrated to another country. The natives of the United States in particular despised the Irish settlers who were successful and felt their fortune was due to 'luck' and not due to their strong will, determination or hard work. That is what this story is all about!
The Fitzgerald family has always been very proud of their Irish heritage! Every year my Dad would grow out his beard and dye it green in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. He would deck himself out with a wardrobe of green, from his hat to his shoes! It was very impressive to all that seen him! He did this every year until he passed away in 2010. Due to his admiration of my Dad, my brother Joe decided to carry on this tradition. This respect was well earned. My Dad worked hard at everything he did and was a man of great will and determination. He could accomplish almost anything he put his mind to! Until recently I did not really think that Joe could ever fill those green shoes, but seeing him go through his current battle and looking back on his life, I now realize that I was so very wrong!
I know that Joe has never had an easy life. Like the Irishmen that migrated to the states, he was treated poorly by many and struggled to succeed in life, but he did not let that get him down. Despite his trials & tribulations, he did not let anything or anyone keep him down. He pursued wrestling in high school, enjoyed it, did well and made some great friends! In fact, they went to state finals 2 years in a row! This is only one example of his great determination! In 1997, Joe started having heart problems, but still yearned to be married and start a family. Despite his health issues, his dreams came true and he married his wife, Barb. Together they have 3 children- Anthony (16), Darrin (15) & Kayla (14).
Eventually, his ongoing health issues made it too difficult for him to perform physical work and he became permanently disabled in 2003. Over the past several years he has had countless health related issues resulting in numerous hospitalizations, with a few of those being life threatening. In the last 3 months alone he has been in the hospital more days than not, and escaped death 3 times.
It all started the beginning of November 2018 when Joe became ill and was getting worse every day. After a solid month of not being able to eat and losing almost 30 pounds, his physician sent him to the emergency room. It was there that he was admitted and diagnosed with a severe bladder infection, along with a staph infection in his blood stream, also called Sepsis. Both of these were life threatening! To make matters worse, two of his heart valves became coated with the staph infection which not only caused impairment of one of them, but the other one had quit working all together. Due to the seriousness of his condition, he was flown by airplane to Spectrum Heart Center in Grand Rapids. After getting Joe stabilized, they performed open heart surgery on the two infected valves. During his stay, he had experienced Atrial fibrillation and a pacemaker was considered. Without it, he was at risk of having a stroke. A decision to wait until he was stronger was made by the physician and he was discharged home to the care of his wife, Barb. They also ordered both a home health care nurse to come 3 times a week and a physical therapy evaluation to be done. Both the nurse and therapy said he was doing GREAT! How I wish this is where the story ended, but unfortunately it did not!
After only 10 days home, Joe was found unresponsive and was again admitted to the hospital ICU! He had SUFFERED 2 STROKES! If there had been an accurate diagnosis in November, all this could have been prevented! Instead, Joe is only 52 years old and is fighting to regain his life back! After a month of recuperation in the hospital, he has been discharged home. Unfortunately, Joe is confined to a wheelchair due to left-sided weakness and balance issues and will require around the clock care for his safety. He is receiving in-home therapy-Physical, Occupational & Speech to help him recover.
His wife has been by his side continuously since his first hospitalization, attending his therapy sessions and learning how to help him get back to how he was before all this began 3 months ago. With no other options available, Barb has become his full time caregiver. Regrettably, Barb had to leave a full-time job and will not be able to return to the workforce any time soon. She has already had 3 months of lost wages and will continue to lose wages in the upcoming months during his recovery. Without Barb working, their every day household expenses, like rent and utilities has been overwhelming, let alone the added expenses incurred from going to the hospital daily & the equipment needed for his safety. The Fitzgerald's were already considered an impoverished family due to his disability, but now find themselves financially devastated. I know that Joe will AGAIN beat the odds because not only does he have the luck of the Irish on his side, but he also has many people praying for his recovery. Not only does Joe & his family need all the prayers they can get, but they are also in need of some Irish Blessings, in the form of financial assistance. Immediate family members have been a tremendous help, but fall short of covering all these expenses. If they were blessed with $10,000, all their outstanding household bills could be paid up to date and there will be some to help cover some of the lost wages during his recovery. I pray that God will place on your heart the financial needs of this family and that you will help them to get through this unfortunate crisis by donating what you can afford. Thank you for all your prayers & financial support!
God Bless all of you and Erin Go Bragh! (Ireland Forever)
Patti Ritthaler (Joe's Sister)
The Fitzgerald family has always been very proud of their Irish heritage! Every year my Dad would grow out his beard and dye it green in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. He would deck himself out with a wardrobe of green, from his hat to his shoes! It was very impressive to all that seen him! He did this every year until he passed away in 2010. Due to his admiration of my Dad, my brother Joe decided to carry on this tradition. This respect was well earned. My Dad worked hard at everything he did and was a man of great will and determination. He could accomplish almost anything he put his mind to! Until recently I did not really think that Joe could ever fill those green shoes, but seeing him go through his current battle and looking back on his life, I now realize that I was so very wrong!
I know that Joe has never had an easy life. Like the Irishmen that migrated to the states, he was treated poorly by many and struggled to succeed in life, but he did not let that get him down. Despite his trials & tribulations, he did not let anything or anyone keep him down. He pursued wrestling in high school, enjoyed it, did well and made some great friends! In fact, they went to state finals 2 years in a row! This is only one example of his great determination! In 1997, Joe started having heart problems, but still yearned to be married and start a family. Despite his health issues, his dreams came true and he married his wife, Barb. Together they have 3 children- Anthony (16), Darrin (15) & Kayla (14).
Eventually, his ongoing health issues made it too difficult for him to perform physical work and he became permanently disabled in 2003. Over the past several years he has had countless health related issues resulting in numerous hospitalizations, with a few of those being life threatening. In the last 3 months alone he has been in the hospital more days than not, and escaped death 3 times.
It all started the beginning of November 2018 when Joe became ill and was getting worse every day. After a solid month of not being able to eat and losing almost 30 pounds, his physician sent him to the emergency room. It was there that he was admitted and diagnosed with a severe bladder infection, along with a staph infection in his blood stream, also called Sepsis. Both of these were life threatening! To make matters worse, two of his heart valves became coated with the staph infection which not only caused impairment of one of them, but the other one had quit working all together. Due to the seriousness of his condition, he was flown by airplane to Spectrum Heart Center in Grand Rapids. After getting Joe stabilized, they performed open heart surgery on the two infected valves. During his stay, he had experienced Atrial fibrillation and a pacemaker was considered. Without it, he was at risk of having a stroke. A decision to wait until he was stronger was made by the physician and he was discharged home to the care of his wife, Barb. They also ordered both a home health care nurse to come 3 times a week and a physical therapy evaluation to be done. Both the nurse and therapy said he was doing GREAT! How I wish this is where the story ended, but unfortunately it did not!
After only 10 days home, Joe was found unresponsive and was again admitted to the hospital ICU! He had SUFFERED 2 STROKES! If there had been an accurate diagnosis in November, all this could have been prevented! Instead, Joe is only 52 years old and is fighting to regain his life back! After a month of recuperation in the hospital, he has been discharged home. Unfortunately, Joe is confined to a wheelchair due to left-sided weakness and balance issues and will require around the clock care for his safety. He is receiving in-home therapy-Physical, Occupational & Speech to help him recover.
His wife has been by his side continuously since his first hospitalization, attending his therapy sessions and learning how to help him get back to how he was before all this began 3 months ago. With no other options available, Barb has become his full time caregiver. Regrettably, Barb had to leave a full-time job and will not be able to return to the workforce any time soon. She has already had 3 months of lost wages and will continue to lose wages in the upcoming months during his recovery. Without Barb working, their every day household expenses, like rent and utilities has been overwhelming, let alone the added expenses incurred from going to the hospital daily & the equipment needed for his safety. The Fitzgerald's were already considered an impoverished family due to his disability, but now find themselves financially devastated. I know that Joe will AGAIN beat the odds because not only does he have the luck of the Irish on his side, but he also has many people praying for his recovery. Not only does Joe & his family need all the prayers they can get, but they are also in need of some Irish Blessings, in the form of financial assistance. Immediate family members have been a tremendous help, but fall short of covering all these expenses. If they were blessed with $10,000, all their outstanding household bills could be paid up to date and there will be some to help cover some of the lost wages during his recovery. I pray that God will place on your heart the financial needs of this family and that you will help them to get through this unfortunate crisis by donating what you can afford. Thank you for all your prayers & financial support!
God Bless all of you and Erin Go Bragh! (Ireland Forever)
Patti Ritthaler (Joe's Sister)
Organizer
Patti Ritthaler
Organizer
Kalkaska, MI