Help support Michael and his family

I’m writing this with a heavy and anxious heart. My sister’s long term partner (and father of her young son Elijah) received the news today that he will need emergency surgery on his neck to relieve pressure on his spinal cord. He started experiencing numbness in his hands accompanied by an unstable gait and trouble walking back in May. These symptoms progressively got worse until he was unable to work or even pick up his son. He has had to wait almost 4 months for answers as they ruled out MS and any other possible causes. They were told by the neurosurgeon today that the symptoms Michael is experiencing is likely permanent and that the emergency surgery is only to prevent full paralysis due to having cervical myelopathy. Michael is the sole provider for his family and his boss has been generously driving his route for him but cannot realistically continue driving it for him much longer. If what the neurosurgeon said is correct, Micheal will lose his job. If he has a total recovery () it will be a long and slow one. They are anticipating Michael being sent to inpatient rehab after he recovers enough to be discharged after surgery. For those of you who know Jamie, you know she dug herself out of the deepest depths of hell. She went from suffering severely from alcohol addiction to the point she lost guardianship of herself. I was told by our lawyer she would never get it back. She spent nearly 10 years in residential care facilities and nursing homes being treated like a prisoner by the same government that was supposed to be protecting her. But she persevered and found recovery, fought for and won in getting the guardianship over her turned over. That’s not even touching on the trauma she experienced and overcame as a child and teenager. The life Jamie created for herself with the help of Michael (and his unconditional love for her) is something movies are made of. It’s the only consistent, safe, and happy home she has ever known or had. To see this little family I love so much go through something so hard breaks my heart and makes me feel so helpless. So I’m coming to you and begging you to first and foremost wrap them up in your thoughts and prayers. Secondly, if you’re in a position to help financially or willing to share this it would mean the world to me. The goals for any funds raised would be to keep bills at bay so Michael can focus solely on getting better and Jamie can focus on helping him and caring for Elijah. When Michael got Jamie, he got all of her sisters too. And we are A LOT. He has been a solid and steady presence in our family. He would give the shirt off his back for anyone and just has a heart of gold. Let us show him he has more support and love than he realizes and that only God will decide if the damage is permanent or not.