Judy's Brain Surgery Expenses
My wife has recently been diagnosed with a rare brain tumor that only three Neurosurgeons in the United States can help her. We felt blessed to find out that not only one, but the best of the Neurosurgeon is as close as Charleston, which is only a 3 1/2 drive from here. Thank God we have good insurance, but insurance isn't covering everything. It's still a rare surgery and is very risky, as the location of this tumor is in the middle of her brain, in the worst possible location. Judy has been on medical leave since January. It took us this long to find out what is wrong with her, but unfortunately, her leave is now transferring over to Long Term Disability and we will be without HER income for 6-10 weeks, just when we need it most. I too, will be missing some income in going to be with her. However, we are blessed that her best friend Rita is flying in from San Francisco for the weekend, so I can continue working up until Judy's surgery.
That being said, we are in a race to raise money for travel, hotel and meal expenses for up to 2 weeks, possibly longer and her surgery is scheduled for Wednesday, September 6th. We will need to be leaving on Sunday or Monday to get settled and take care of any pre-op matters.
If we cannot raise this money THIS WEEK, we will be forced to cancel her surgery and wait until we can have the money ourselves. The issue with that is that her tumor is growing and she's sicker each day. She suffers so terribly that she is mostly bedridden in a dark, quiet room. Her symptoms will continue to worsen each day. It breaks my heart to see her in such pain and agony that she's screaming and crying in pain and the meds don't help...they knock her out if she's lucky.
Her symptoms contributed to this tumor are:
* Migraines that include light & noise sensitivity and vomiting.
*Stabbing pain in her ears and eyes
* Blurred vision
* Double vision
* Severe Tinnitus and hearing loss
* Severe memory loss
* Inability to concentrate
* Severe insomnia
* Difficulty walking (falls)
On top of this, she has other severe health issues unrelated to the tumor, but combinded has left her with no quality of life.
This rare tumor will not go away. It will continue to worsen. She could lose her vision, hearing and ability to walk over time.
There are other ways you can help are:
1. Once she's released, if it is before her staples are to be removed, we would like to avoid bringing her home because the drive will be very hard for her. We would need someone to stay at the hotel with her until her staples are removed. I will need to be back at work, so someone else would have to do this, although we can always have them knock her out for the drive home if neccesary,
2. Someone (or people to take turns) staying with her to make sure she takes her meds on time, eats if she's up to it, and walking with her as many times a day as she can do. She will be in a dark room with earplugs and sleeping for most of the time.
3. People to cook or bring by dinners for us.
Because this is so rare, they cannot give us a diffinitive timeline on her healing process, but can say that it is a very slow process. Judy will not be allowed to stimulate her brain in any way or get upset, as it could cause her to be hospitalized.
It's taken a lot for me to ask for this help, but I love Judy more than anything in this world. We have so much more we want to experience in our lives and I need her to be healthy so we can do those things.
We're both scared, so welcome as many prayers as we can get. Please feel free to share this with your churches. We believe very strongly in the power of prayer.
Thank you all in advance. God BlessYou!!!
