About nine months ago, a dear friend of mine, Zach, was diagnosed with psoriasis and destructive psoriatic arthritis. In this short time the disease has ravaged his body rendering him unable to even walk at times and perform normal everyday activities. For example, he cannot get up from the toilet without assistance, lock or unlock the deadbolt to his home, get up/down the three flights of stairs leading to his apartment (he's told me at times that he had to go down the stairs one at a time on his butt) or even open a simple bag of chips. He no longer has fingernails or toenails, and all of his joints are swollen from his hands and feet to his knees, hips, back, and neck. At times the joints are so swollen that the skin cracks and bleeds. When it's time for bed, the inflammation in his joints is so painful that he doesn't get much sleep or when he does, it's not restful. He is now seeing three specialists (rheumatologist, dermatologist, and cardiologist) and also his regular primary care physician monthly adding up to $175/mo in co-pays. There are other costs associated with this horrible disease... There are several medications that he must take every day and some of them twice a day. Refilling these home meds can be very costly. Once a month, Zach has to be admitted to the hospital for 2-3 hours to receive an IV infusion of Remicade. These infusions before insurance cost approximately $27,000. After insurance pays their portion, he receives a bill for about $250 EVERY MONTH. He is overwhelmed with these medical expenses and one could only assume that he is struggling. In these nine months he has seen NO IMPROVEMENT. In fact, he's gotten much worse. It's deeply saddening.

 

Zach is a dedicated, very hard working employee and has worked at Mercy Hospital for eight years now. I believe it pains me and many of his other coworkers to see him going through this.  While his spirits are still high and he maintains a smile and pleasant attitude, I can tell that deep down he isn't the same person. I can tell that he's carrying a heavy burden and often doesn't feel well at all.

 

I'm putting this together to see if we can help ease Zach's burden and maybe help him find a treatment that works. EVERY BIT HELPS

 

Thanks for your time. Please share in support of my dear friend.