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Hardworking Dad Needing Your Help

On Saturday, March 31st, having just finished a laborious duct cleaning job, Matt experienced pain in his back and just chalked it up to overdoing it. Within hours, the pain had spread to his abdomen and sitting or lying down became impossible.  Tuesday morning, after days of standing for almost the whole time and ready to topple over, he went to Urgent Care and it appeared that the pain was most likely due to kidney stones.  Hours later, with no relief and having tried heavy duty pain killers, Matt was admitted to the ER and it was confirmed that there were no kidney stones. For the next two days, nothing, including morphine, was helping his pain and he continued to stand for the majority of the time.  The doctors finally had some answers Thursday evening after MRIs of his upper and lower back showed that there was a widespread, life-threatening infection in his spine. He was taken in for emergency surgery at midnight and the neurosurgeon was able to successfully cut into his spine, without hitting any nerves, and remove most of the infection. The traces remaining are being treated with IV antibiotics and with drains that come out of the sides of his spine (apologies if I’ve grossed anyone out with the pics), however, the doctors still have some concerns and will continue to monitor him and do more testing.  When he is released from the hospital, Matt will come home with a PICC line and have a long road of recovery ahead of him before he is allowed to work again safely. 

For those of you who know Matt, he started his own duct cleaning company just a few years ago and plays lots of music gigs to subsidize his income while he gets to a good place with Dirty Ducts. Unfortunately, when he went to acquire health insurance this year, the cost was too much for him, and he made the decision that to keep his company afloat, he would have to risk not having it.  And then… this happened. Matt is not unlike many who face this or worse, but if you know Matt and how hard-working he is, please consider helping him. The goal amount is probably only a fraction of what the cost will be, but every donation, no matter how small, is meaningful and helpful. When Matt is able, he’ll be back out there cleaning ducts, entertaining us with his musical talent, and paying off whatever is left to the hospital and doctors that saved him.  Thank you for reading and for giving if you are able to. Life is good when you have friends.

A little more info...It's hard to believe that Matt and I became friends ten years ago when he was working in the Corporate world. Several years ago, I encouraged him to get out and do something that would enable him to play his music professionally as well.  After years of searching for a company with a good reputation to clean my air ducts for a reasonable price - and coming up empty handed, I told Matt, who is handy, to look into the business.  With a lot of hard work and being transparent with customers, Matt has grown his business and gotten rave reviews. But, as any business owner knows, those first few years are tough, and big bumps such as the one Matt is facing now, make it even tougher. So, although much of the money, that has so generously been given, will go towards Matt's medical bills, some donors have reached out and specified that the money may be put towards non-medical bills to ensure that his business stays alive and that his living expenses are taken care of.  This is much appreciated. Much of the money, however, will be used for Matt's medical bills and medicine.  For starters, upon Matt's release from the hospital, the money will cover the IV antibiotics, other medicines and supplies ($450 per week) and weekly visits from a nurse.  And thanks to all of Matt's generous donors, he will, at least for a while, be able to pay for all of the follow-up appointments he needs. The infection was so extensive that several specialists were/are involved and want to make sure he has a full recovery.  So thank you so much to all of the giving people out there. Matt is overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness he has received. 

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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $100 
    • 6 yrs
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Organizer

Aideen Connolly
Organizer
Phoenixville, PA

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