Medical Assistance for Randy Borst

Randy is a 49 year old man, a father, step father, & husband, who since April 2014 has experienced 5 strokes (4 embolic (“clot”) & 1 hemorrhagic (bleed)). These strokes have taken a vibrant, independent, hardworking man & put him into early retirement, a state of reliance for the most basic functions, & has even taken away the ability for him to drink & eat in a normal manner. My mother, his wife, has had to drive back & forth to hospitals across NYS, including Cooperstown, Norwich, Binghamton, & Albany. Normally, embolic strokes can be treated by two methods: either TpA, a clot-busting drug, or by removing the clot using catheter methods (similar to the common treatment for heart attacks). The problem is that Randy’s strokes present with NO CLOTS, instead the evidence & his medical history suggest that the blood vessels in his brain are constantly narrowing. The reason why is amongst the most upsetting conclusion that can be made: the life saving radiation he received in 1995 for his Stage 3 astrocytoma (brain tumor), located on his brain stem, is having unexpected side effects 25 years later.

We are asking for help! Any way possible. The insurance company refuses to allow him to be treated with the appropriate level of care of rehabilitation, even though every doctor, RN, case manager, PT, OT, & speech therapist he has dealt with in the last few months has said he needs & would benefit from that level of care.

Currently, Randy has been readmitted to Bassett Hospital, where he has been for two weeks this time. They can’t discharge him to home because it is too dangerous with his instability in walking & standing, along with the constant choking & aspiration he experiences from eating & drinking. The lack of natural airway protection that all of these strokes have resulted in means that his diet is puréed food & HONEY thick liquids. Both of these factors result in a high expense in special food & additives to thicken his food & drink so that he doesn’t end up with aspiration pneumonia & being admitted to the ICU on a ventilator. My mother is driving back & forth to Bassett daily to be with him.

On top of that, because Blue Cross Blue Shield refuses to listen to actual medical providers, when he does receive the rehab services at home, my mother has to pay a copay PER VISIT, with multiple visits each day!

Please help us take care of him & help my mother so that she can do what she needs to take care of both of them.