June's Fight with Pancreatitis - Medical Bills

In February 2012, our world was turned upside down when my wife June Strayer was diagnosed with Acute Pancreatitis and I almost lost her.  I will never forget the doctor trying to explain to me what was wrong and end it off by saying “Well, we will see what happens if she makes it until tomorrow, then we will go from there”.  Thankfully, she survived and left the hospital 12 days later,  now an insulin dependent diabetic. The next year was a blur of appointments, tests, kidney stones, and several more attacks of pancreatitis. So many adjustments and trying to come to terms with what happened to our lives.  She seemed to catch anything and everything that was going around, and it took longer for her to get over it.  In February 2016, it was discovered that a meningioma we had been monitoring in her brain had decided to start growing, and the decision was made to treat it with Stereotactic Radiation treatment, due to the location.    This combination of illnesses has impacted June physically, emotionally  and financially, She had  to give up her job with a company that cares for the elderly which she loved.  Since February 2012, I have watched my wife endure excruciating pain, ongoing nausea that she has to take medication for, becoming a diabetic dependent on insulin, ongoing vision problems due to the radiation treatments she received, and  have numerous treatments aimed at reducing the pain of chronic pancreatitis.  For those who do not know, this is an ongoing chronic, progressive disease for which there is no cure.  She has had  her bile duct and pancreas ducts cut more than once to open them up, stents put in both many times, stones removed from both, numerous ERCP’s and EUS procedures, celiac plexus blocks every three months to manage pain , and a feeding tube for seven months  to break the cycle of pain.  Even though June could barely manage her own pain, when others called on her for help she was there for them, regardless of the personal costs to her physically or financially.  She tried to learn all she could about pancreatitis in hopes of helping others who would find themselves in the same boat, with little or no knowledge of what was happening to them.   I almost lost her again in March 2017 due to Ulcerative colitis. She was planning on flying out to Washington D.C. the next day, and the ER refused to let her leave the hospital, nor would they let me take her out.  Instead she was sent via ambulance to IU University hospital in Indianapolis.  This resulted in a year of monthly infusions to put the ulcerative colitis into remission.   She currently wears an insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor as she will become a brittle diabetic when her pancreas is completely destroyed. They estimate she is at ten percent  function right now. When her brother was diagnosed with bile duct cancer and her sister had developed multiple myeloma, June returned home to Canada and cared for them until they passed. Even though June’s own illness is progressing, she continues to volunteer time and time again to help others to cope with pancreas diseases.  I have seen her spend all night talking to someone struggling with their disease, hopping in the car to go meet someone for coffee to try and encourage them, or deliver formula for a tube fed person who couldn’t afford it when we had extra, or could find it for them.  Although she is no longer the same person I married, due to all the chronic conditions, I have to say how proud of her I am now, for all she has overcome and  how she has made it her mission to help others in the same boat.

Now I am asking for your help! We have recently been hit with growing number of medical bills that have become overwhelming. If you could help in any way it would be greatly appreciative.  We have been paying on the bills as we have been going, but the number of payment plans we are juggling in addition to our over $935.00 a month for health insurance have pushed us to the brink.  I recently was diagnosed with Adult onset Asthma and Psoriatic Arthritis, which kicked our second deductible in and doubled our out of pocket expenses.  Our hope from sharing this is to be able to collect enough to eliminate at least some of the monthly payments, so we can manage the rest of our bills. This is definitely not how we envisioned spending our lives at this point in time.  Anything you can contribute will be appreciated, even five dollars is a help, as we know there are so many others with overwhelming medical bills.  The money received will only go towards relieving this medical debt.  Our medical bills will only continue to increase in the future, as more issues seem to be cropping up.  June is looking into having an intrathecal pain pump put in, and at the end of the year we are losing this insurance coverage and have no idea what will replace it.

We thank you so much in advance for considering this and ask you to feel free to share this.  If you would like more information on pancreatic disease, please go to pancreasfoundation.org