$4,665 raised
·28 donations
To Kevin, with Love
Donation protected
You may know Kevin Roe as a very hard working design engineer, sound engineer for his local church, volunteer at the local food bank, loving father to 5 kids, and husband of 42 years who loves to make a silly joke or offer sound advice.
ALS or Lou Gerhig's disease is an incurable, fatal disease of the motor neurons. This disease runs in his family. His mother, Norma Roe, died at the age of 73 after a short battle with ALS. His maternal grandfather also died of the disease. Kevin started having some clumsiness in his thumbs in December of 2018. After a few falls later that month, his children urged him to be check by a Neurologist. By the time of his first visit in January 2019, he was already having difficulty swallowing and clear weakness in his "good leg." An EMG test confirmed the diagnosis of ALS.
Since Kevin's first ALS symptoms in December, he has rapidly declined in function, losing the ability to drive/type/walk and therefore work by May 2019. He had to start being fed/bathed and manually lifted into a power wheelchair by June. He is no stranger to receiving total care, he is an amputee from getting hit by a drunk driver while on his motorcycle when he was only a teenager.
He now requires a breathing machine at night. He and his wife moved out of their home in June after a hospitalization for a sudden pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lung). This move was hastened to be closer to his doctors at Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN, receive help from family, as well as to reduce expenses due to the fact he no longer has income. There is a waiting period of 5 months (from the date he stopped working) to obtain social security disability benefits and a waiting period to receive state health benefits. So, they are paying high co-pays for many of Kevin's medical bills through his COBRA insurance.
Here are the current needs:
They currently owe about $7,000 from the past 3 months for the hospitalization, as well as prosthetic leg brace that wasn't covered by insurance. He was only able to use the brace for a few weeks before being too weak to ambulate at all. They have been so fortunate to receive some free medical equipment through the ALS association and other equipment from people in the community.
Kevin is quickly losing his ability to talk and we are trying to get some special technology for text-to-speech using an eye recognition computer. The computer was a gift from family. The software is estimated to be between $200-1800.
Currently, he has to pay $80 per ride for a wheelchair van to go to Kevin's appointments, church, or any trip out of the house. To purchase a used wheelchair van would cost on average $30,000.
Kevin said a dream looking into the future was to see a replica of Noah's ark from the Old Testament at the Ark Expo in Kentucky. -update Due to Kevin's increasing disability, we will not likely take a trip of great duration and will instead spend as much time as possible with loved ones.
He can't sit very long due to discomfort of immobility. We are asking his providers for resources to alleviate pain and reduce pressure spots while sitting and while lying in bed at night. If health insurance doesn't cover this, it will cost approximately $100-350 for a seat cushion.
We are reaching out to the greater community to support Kevin in this journey, with prayers, encouragement, helpful advice, and to alleviate some of the financial burden of current and future needs. We thank you all so very much!
ALS is incurable and there is no disease-modifying treatment (nothing can slow it down). It is heart-wrenching to see how quickly he loses abilities from week to week. Our hope, trust, and peace is in the One true God. Without this, we would be lost. We are so thankful to family, friends (both new and old), who have come along side to support, cheer, pray, and offer help through this difficult time. Please consider giving if you are able. Many blessings!
Update: many of Kevin's immediate family and some friends will be walking on August 24th in Rochester, MN to raise awareness for ALS. Please join us in the walk, if you are able!
ALS or Lou Gerhig's disease is an incurable, fatal disease of the motor neurons. This disease runs in his family. His mother, Norma Roe, died at the age of 73 after a short battle with ALS. His maternal grandfather also died of the disease. Kevin started having some clumsiness in his thumbs in December of 2018. After a few falls later that month, his children urged him to be check by a Neurologist. By the time of his first visit in January 2019, he was already having difficulty swallowing and clear weakness in his "good leg." An EMG test confirmed the diagnosis of ALS.
Since Kevin's first ALS symptoms in December, he has rapidly declined in function, losing the ability to drive/type/walk and therefore work by May 2019. He had to start being fed/bathed and manually lifted into a power wheelchair by June. He is no stranger to receiving total care, he is an amputee from getting hit by a drunk driver while on his motorcycle when he was only a teenager.
He now requires a breathing machine at night. He and his wife moved out of their home in June after a hospitalization for a sudden pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lung). This move was hastened to be closer to his doctors at Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN, receive help from family, as well as to reduce expenses due to the fact he no longer has income. There is a waiting period of 5 months (from the date he stopped working) to obtain social security disability benefits and a waiting period to receive state health benefits. So, they are paying high co-pays for many of Kevin's medical bills through his COBRA insurance.
Here are the current needs:
They currently owe about $7,000 from the past 3 months for the hospitalization, as well as prosthetic leg brace that wasn't covered by insurance. He was only able to use the brace for a few weeks before being too weak to ambulate at all. They have been so fortunate to receive some free medical equipment through the ALS association and other equipment from people in the community.
Kevin is quickly losing his ability to talk and we are trying to get some special technology for text-to-speech using an eye recognition computer. The computer was a gift from family. The software is estimated to be between $200-1800.
Currently, he has to pay $80 per ride for a wheelchair van to go to Kevin's appointments, church, or any trip out of the house. To purchase a used wheelchair van would cost on average $30,000.
Kevin said a dream looking into the future was to see a replica of Noah's ark from the Old Testament at the Ark Expo in Kentucky. -update Due to Kevin's increasing disability, we will not likely take a trip of great duration and will instead spend as much time as possible with loved ones.
He can't sit very long due to discomfort of immobility. We are asking his providers for resources to alleviate pain and reduce pressure spots while sitting and while lying in bed at night. If health insurance doesn't cover this, it will cost approximately $100-350 for a seat cushion.
We are reaching out to the greater community to support Kevin in this journey, with prayers, encouragement, helpful advice, and to alleviate some of the financial burden of current and future needs. We thank you all so very much!
ALS is incurable and there is no disease-modifying treatment (nothing can slow it down). It is heart-wrenching to see how quickly he loses abilities from week to week. Our hope, trust, and peace is in the One true God. Without this, we would be lost. We are so thankful to family, friends (both new and old), who have come along side to support, cheer, pray, and offer help through this difficult time. Please consider giving if you are able. Many blessings!
Update: many of Kevin's immediate family and some friends will be walking on August 24th in Rochester, MN to raise awareness for ALS. Please join us in the walk, if you are able!
Donations
Co-organizers (3)
Danae Boorsma
Organizer
Rochester, MN
Sandy Roe
Beneficiary
Deondra Mahair
Co-organizer
Jesse Roe
Co-organizer