Mobility Van for Andre

Greetings and Salutations!

I would like to share a little bit of what Andre has gone through over the last few years. I do this to explain why we have resorted to a GoFundMe for help.

Andre has always been a hard worker and strived to take care of his family to the best of his abilities and that’s why the last three years have been so difficult.

Five years ago we found out that Andre has cancer, smoldering myeloma. The lowest stage of multiple myeloma which was good news when it came to having cancer at least until the pandemic hit. He was put under strict quarantine.

We took advantage of this time off of work to address a couple issues he had with his spine, two surgeries.

After these surgeries he wasn’t getting any stronger even with working out and going to PT. Nothing was building his strength or range of motion. The last visit with the neurosurgeon he said it wasn’t the surgeries that were causing the issues Andre was having. He referred Andre to a neuromuscular specialist.

With all the news we’ve received in the past as far as Andre’s health, we were about to be hit harder than ever before.

March 2022, Andre was diagnosed with Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy. Definitely, a gut punch but we are leaning into our faith, family and friends.

Andre is losing his ability to walk more and more along with other weaknesses in his upper body. He is in pain most of the time which is also working against his abilities to get around.

This all means that we need to make things accessible for Andre when it comes to our home and vehicle.

Thankfully, we live in a single story home so not much has to be done. We do need to build a couple ramps and extend our patio so he has access to his bb-q.

We need to get his wheelchair to travel with him everywhere he goes. We are currently using our truck with a lift but this has become difficult for Andre to navigate. Plus if it is raining the wheelchair can become damaged because covers aren’t always the best (we have gone through a couple already).

All this being said, we are asking for help for home improvement and to buy an accessible van. Financing such big ticket items would become a hardship because, honestly, we have no idea how long I will be able to continue to work before I need to come home to become a full time caregiver.

Being able to do these things would help Andre to continue to be independent for as long as possible and that is what we are striving for.

A van will make it easier for him to get in and out of a vehicle. And, the best aspect of this van is that it has the capability to transition throughout our journey.

We appreciate anything you can do for us.

Blessings,

Kim