Well, to start with, Thank You! And My Best Wishes to all who bother to read my appeal. My story will begin a few short paragraphs from now, so please bear with me for a moment.
This is off topic, but I was raised on a saying “God helps those who help themselves".
Now I know there is some …umm...theological controversy on the interpretation of the writings between the writings in “2 Corinthians, Isaiah, and Romans”, that "God help's those who “can't” help themselves".
I believe in a combination of both I guess. I believe in God, and I’ve accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, but I also believe that I have to do as much as I can with the blessings, and grace, that He has already given me..two arms, legs, muscle, and most importantly, a brain. For example: my son got his new (sorry, used/safe) car on his 17th birthday. Not because he sat on his butt playing video games, no, because he did his chores without being pestered, he got good grades, he did his best in sports, he worked a part-time job and put his money away, but he needed some help from his father to get “that" car.
Again, if you've read this far…..Thank You!
Now my story.
Just a little background. I’m currently 54 years old. I started working when I was about 12, (yes, child labor…lol). My parents ran a small ceramic shop. They did it all. I helped my dad pour, clean, fire, load, transport…etc... then I helped my mom clean, paint, teach, and sell…
From there, I was a porter, bellman, taught myself to drive a tractor-trailer (drove everything for 13 years), went back to collage, earned my degree in Micro-Computer Systems Management (worked in a trucking repair garage part-time), and interned at a new computer company called Advantage Computer. At graduation, I accepted a position as Technical Director for a non-profit organization called Computer’s for Children. After 9 years, the Spirit moved me to move on, and start my own business, Inneed PC Repair and Training.
Sometime around late 2008, I was asked to join the Praxair team as a network security consultant. In 2010 I joined the HealthNow/BCBS network security team.
Everything was fine until July of 2011. It was a 90 degree day, and I was laying in the driveway fixing something on my old 1998 pickup truck. I needed a different wrench and when I got up I was having trouble breathing. I made it to the garage and it was getting worse. I went into the house to get some water, thinking I was dehydrated, but it got worse and I started to panic. I want to say “luckily", but now I know there was a reason, my son came in as I was trying to dial 911 but couldn't. The EMT's did some tests and gave me an antihistamine, and recommended I get to the hospital. I couldn’t afford an ambulance ride, the hospital is five minutes away. They insisted, and wouldn’t leave. I finally gave in. They took me to the ICU and diagnosed me with a pulmonary embolism. My lungs were 87% clogged. Apparently clots let go from my legs, laying on the hot concrete in that heat? It wasn’t until after 3 weeks in the hospital that I found out why those damn nurses kept coming in, one after another, asking me the same damn thing over and over….name, address, phone number, mothers maiden name, etc… I was so pissed they wouldn't let me sleep. If I had fallen asleep that night, before the Coumadan could start working, I would have died. In October, I got the Shingles??? It covered my whole neck, up the left side of my face, and close enough to my eye that I might go blind. I have to admit, my boss at HN/BCBS was very compassionate. I spoke with him the first time I was in for the PE, and told him I could work. He wouldn't let me, just told me to get better. The second time, I told him that even though I couldn’t shower, or put a shirt on, I could still do my job. He let me, and my productivity actually went up, for the 2 months I was out, I didn't have to deal with getting ready, traffic, there and back, breaks, lunch's….? Anyway, things were better until late 2012. I didn’t feel well, but at the time I had no health insurance (don’t bother looking back, no, they didn't offer any health insurance). I went to my primary doctor for a routine check-up and he asked me if he could do an EKG. I said O.K.?
Turned out my heart rate was 109 at rest. I had to fight with him not to call an ambulance because I couldn’t afford it. The hospital was less than a mile away, so he finally let me drive there myself. They diagnosed me with severe chronic atrial fibrillation. After 2 days in the ICU, they had to let me go because I couldn’t afford the prescribed “ablation" to stop the A-FIB. My Cardiologist put me on medication that controlled it, but was powerful, and he really didn’t want me on it for more than 6 months.
In a real effort to help me out, my boss pulled some strings, and got me hired by a third party tech company called Inergex, (Side Note: my boss from HN/BCBS and my new boss from Inergex had adjoining offices, and I worked for both of them? :/ ? ) that could offer me insurance, and still allow me to work for him. In May of 2013, I finally got insurance, and scheduled the ablation.
Since I was only employed by Inergex for a month, I had no PTO or sick time accrued.
The procedure was supposed to be outpatient, so I scheduled it for early Friday morning, just in case. The procedure was that they had to do a stress test first. I couldn’t do the physical test because of the problems with my legs from the PE, so they did the chemical test.
A little more than half way through the test, my heart stopped. It took them a little more than 2 minutes to get the chemicals to reverse, and defibrillate me. They decided to keep me over the weekend for observation, and scheduled the ablation for Tuesday morning anyway. I left messages for both boss’ on Sunday, and let them know what the situation was and that I could work Monday. I didn’t hear from the new boss, HN boss gave me VPN access.
Tuesday morning, I died again on the operating table during the ablation, for 1:37. And it didn’t work? Then they decided to “install” an ICD (Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator) in me. That was scheduled for Friday. They sent me home on Monday for 2 weeks of bed rest. The only day I didn’t log-in to work was that Friday for the next 2 weeks. I went back to work but was just not well. I tried contacting my cardiologist, and making appointments, but they kept getting rescheduled for some reason? My follow up appointment was for mid August. August 1st I got a letter that he was no longer practicing and that I had to find a new doctor.
Now, over the course of about two months, while I was desperately searching for a cardiologist that had openings in the near future, and accepted my insurance, I passed out 3 times. Once on my bedroom floor for about 9 hours, once in the family room with my dog curled up around me, and once I fell down the basement stairs, for 11 hours.
So that was three unexcused absences, and no accrued sick days, so Inergex let me go because my productivity was down.
Back to square one. On unemployment, and no insurance again. Symptoms continued, never felt well, or on the way to feeling better.
I finally found my new cardiologist on May 14th, 2014. I woke up that morning to drive my son back to his dorm. I was having a very hard time breathing again and dizzy. I sat on the couch to wait for him, when all of the sudden I felt like I got whacked in the head by a sledge hammer? I thought something happened and the roof collapsed or something, and as I looked around, and nothing was wrong, it hit again.
Once again, my son saved my life, and I finally rode in the ambulance, but I didn’t give my consent!
I was dying of pneumonia! The ICD went off 14 times between home and the ride. Halfway to the hospital, the EMT’s had to turn it off so they could work on me without getting zapped themselves. Then I died. It took 7:10 or there abouts, to get me to the ICU, where they got me back, but in a coma.
I was in a coma for 6 weeks. I won’t get into my experience during that time, but I’ll leave it at it has had an impact on my life. They didn’t think I was going to live, and if I did, I would surely be a vegetable after being dead for that amount of time. I felt the pain as I stood there next to myself in the bed with my sister holding my hand, and the doctor telling her she should probably start making arrangements. Surprising to all, I woke up. I spent another four weeks under observation. Then they sent me home. I couldn’t talk, from having a trach in my throat for 2 ½ months. I lost the use of my left arm, limited use of my right arm, and couldn’t walk. It’s been a long recovery, and I am now disabled.
So, the reason for the ask.
Thanks to the help from the home health team, I began my ordeal with SSD as soon as I got home. And after 4+ short years of living on $400.00/mo. of emergency assistance (which I have to pay back), two law firms (the first one went bankrupt and I had to start again), and 2 uncompleted bankruptcies, I have finally been granted SSD. Now the bank want’s me out of my home of 54 years, by August 8th, 2019, if I can’t repay my past missed mortgage payments ( plus fees, taxes, late fees, attorney costs, other fee, etc…) in one lump sum.
Please, if the spirit moves you so, to help, even if you can afford a dollar, you will be blessed.
As I stated in the beginning, I do have faith, that our Father in Heaven will help me with my situation. Out of nowhere, GoFundMe popped into my head. So is this His help, or is this, the absolute last thing I can do, as a human, to help my situation…to get a “little help from my Father”? I don’t know, but as I was hesitant to do this, another thought, or should I say memory, was imparted to me. Some time ago, I was a member of church that also came about by the urging of the Holy Spirit (another story for another time). The memory is a sermon that the pastor gave one Sunday morning. He spoke about tithing. I won’t get into God’s word about that here, but he spoke about the heart. Yes, the church needs financing, but you can tithe in other ways as well.
I know thing’s like this could certainly seem like a scam, I might think so too. But, the thing that he said, that stuck with me the most, is, “if you feel it in your heart, and want to help someone in need, it doesn’t matter if it’s a scam….God see’s your heart, not your money! You’re still tithing to Him!”
Thank You, and God Bless You!
Dave
This is off topic, but I was raised on a saying “God helps those who help themselves".
Now I know there is some …umm...theological controversy on the interpretation of the writings between the writings in “2 Corinthians, Isaiah, and Romans”, that "God help's those who “can't” help themselves".
I believe in a combination of both I guess. I believe in God, and I’ve accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, but I also believe that I have to do as much as I can with the blessings, and grace, that He has already given me..two arms, legs, muscle, and most importantly, a brain. For example: my son got his new (sorry, used/safe) car on his 17th birthday. Not because he sat on his butt playing video games, no, because he did his chores without being pestered, he got good grades, he did his best in sports, he worked a part-time job and put his money away, but he needed some help from his father to get “that" car.
Again, if you've read this far…..Thank You!
Now my story.
Just a little background. I’m currently 54 years old. I started working when I was about 12, (yes, child labor…lol). My parents ran a small ceramic shop. They did it all. I helped my dad pour, clean, fire, load, transport…etc... then I helped my mom clean, paint, teach, and sell…
From there, I was a porter, bellman, taught myself to drive a tractor-trailer (drove everything for 13 years), went back to collage, earned my degree in Micro-Computer Systems Management (worked in a trucking repair garage part-time), and interned at a new computer company called Advantage Computer. At graduation, I accepted a position as Technical Director for a non-profit organization called Computer’s for Children. After 9 years, the Spirit moved me to move on, and start my own business, Inneed PC Repair and Training.
Sometime around late 2008, I was asked to join the Praxair team as a network security consultant. In 2010 I joined the HealthNow/BCBS network security team.
Everything was fine until July of 2011. It was a 90 degree day, and I was laying in the driveway fixing something on my old 1998 pickup truck. I needed a different wrench and when I got up I was having trouble breathing. I made it to the garage and it was getting worse. I went into the house to get some water, thinking I was dehydrated, but it got worse and I started to panic. I want to say “luckily", but now I know there was a reason, my son came in as I was trying to dial 911 but couldn't. The EMT's did some tests and gave me an antihistamine, and recommended I get to the hospital. I couldn’t afford an ambulance ride, the hospital is five minutes away. They insisted, and wouldn’t leave. I finally gave in. They took me to the ICU and diagnosed me with a pulmonary embolism. My lungs were 87% clogged. Apparently clots let go from my legs, laying on the hot concrete in that heat? It wasn’t until after 3 weeks in the hospital that I found out why those damn nurses kept coming in, one after another, asking me the same damn thing over and over….name, address, phone number, mothers maiden name, etc… I was so pissed they wouldn't let me sleep. If I had fallen asleep that night, before the Coumadan could start working, I would have died. In October, I got the Shingles??? It covered my whole neck, up the left side of my face, and close enough to my eye that I might go blind. I have to admit, my boss at HN/BCBS was very compassionate. I spoke with him the first time I was in for the PE, and told him I could work. He wouldn't let me, just told me to get better. The second time, I told him that even though I couldn’t shower, or put a shirt on, I could still do my job. He let me, and my productivity actually went up, for the 2 months I was out, I didn't have to deal with getting ready, traffic, there and back, breaks, lunch's….? Anyway, things were better until late 2012. I didn’t feel well, but at the time I had no health insurance (don’t bother looking back, no, they didn't offer any health insurance). I went to my primary doctor for a routine check-up and he asked me if he could do an EKG. I said O.K.?
Turned out my heart rate was 109 at rest. I had to fight with him not to call an ambulance because I couldn’t afford it. The hospital was less than a mile away, so he finally let me drive there myself. They diagnosed me with severe chronic atrial fibrillation. After 2 days in the ICU, they had to let me go because I couldn’t afford the prescribed “ablation" to stop the A-FIB. My Cardiologist put me on medication that controlled it, but was powerful, and he really didn’t want me on it for more than 6 months.
In a real effort to help me out, my boss pulled some strings, and got me hired by a third party tech company called Inergex, (Side Note: my boss from HN/BCBS and my new boss from Inergex had adjoining offices, and I worked for both of them? :/ ? ) that could offer me insurance, and still allow me to work for him. In May of 2013, I finally got insurance, and scheduled the ablation.
Since I was only employed by Inergex for a month, I had no PTO or sick time accrued.
The procedure was supposed to be outpatient, so I scheduled it for early Friday morning, just in case. The procedure was that they had to do a stress test first. I couldn’t do the physical test because of the problems with my legs from the PE, so they did the chemical test.
A little more than half way through the test, my heart stopped. It took them a little more than 2 minutes to get the chemicals to reverse, and defibrillate me. They decided to keep me over the weekend for observation, and scheduled the ablation for Tuesday morning anyway. I left messages for both boss’ on Sunday, and let them know what the situation was and that I could work Monday. I didn’t hear from the new boss, HN boss gave me VPN access.
Tuesday morning, I died again on the operating table during the ablation, for 1:37. And it didn’t work? Then they decided to “install” an ICD (Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator) in me. That was scheduled for Friday. They sent me home on Monday for 2 weeks of bed rest. The only day I didn’t log-in to work was that Friday for the next 2 weeks. I went back to work but was just not well. I tried contacting my cardiologist, and making appointments, but they kept getting rescheduled for some reason? My follow up appointment was for mid August. August 1st I got a letter that he was no longer practicing and that I had to find a new doctor.
Now, over the course of about two months, while I was desperately searching for a cardiologist that had openings in the near future, and accepted my insurance, I passed out 3 times. Once on my bedroom floor for about 9 hours, once in the family room with my dog curled up around me, and once I fell down the basement stairs, for 11 hours.
So that was three unexcused absences, and no accrued sick days, so Inergex let me go because my productivity was down.
Back to square one. On unemployment, and no insurance again. Symptoms continued, never felt well, or on the way to feeling better.
I finally found my new cardiologist on May 14th, 2014. I woke up that morning to drive my son back to his dorm. I was having a very hard time breathing again and dizzy. I sat on the couch to wait for him, when all of the sudden I felt like I got whacked in the head by a sledge hammer? I thought something happened and the roof collapsed or something, and as I looked around, and nothing was wrong, it hit again.
Once again, my son saved my life, and I finally rode in the ambulance, but I didn’t give my consent!
I was dying of pneumonia! The ICD went off 14 times between home and the ride. Halfway to the hospital, the EMT’s had to turn it off so they could work on me without getting zapped themselves. Then I died. It took 7:10 or there abouts, to get me to the ICU, where they got me back, but in a coma.
I was in a coma for 6 weeks. I won’t get into my experience during that time, but I’ll leave it at it has had an impact on my life. They didn’t think I was going to live, and if I did, I would surely be a vegetable after being dead for that amount of time. I felt the pain as I stood there next to myself in the bed with my sister holding my hand, and the doctor telling her she should probably start making arrangements. Surprising to all, I woke up. I spent another four weeks under observation. Then they sent me home. I couldn’t talk, from having a trach in my throat for 2 ½ months. I lost the use of my left arm, limited use of my right arm, and couldn’t walk. It’s been a long recovery, and I am now disabled.
So, the reason for the ask.
Thanks to the help from the home health team, I began my ordeal with SSD as soon as I got home. And after 4+ short years of living on $400.00/mo. of emergency assistance (which I have to pay back), two law firms (the first one went bankrupt and I had to start again), and 2 uncompleted bankruptcies, I have finally been granted SSD. Now the bank want’s me out of my home of 54 years, by August 8th, 2019, if I can’t repay my past missed mortgage payments ( plus fees, taxes, late fees, attorney costs, other fee, etc…) in one lump sum.
Please, if the spirit moves you so, to help, even if you can afford a dollar, you will be blessed.
As I stated in the beginning, I do have faith, that our Father in Heaven will help me with my situation. Out of nowhere, GoFundMe popped into my head. So is this His help, or is this, the absolute last thing I can do, as a human, to help my situation…to get a “little help from my Father”? I don’t know, but as I was hesitant to do this, another thought, or should I say memory, was imparted to me. Some time ago, I was a member of church that also came about by the urging of the Holy Spirit (another story for another time). The memory is a sermon that the pastor gave one Sunday morning. He spoke about tithing. I won’t get into God’s word about that here, but he spoke about the heart. Yes, the church needs financing, but you can tithe in other ways as well.
I know thing’s like this could certainly seem like a scam, I might think so too. But, the thing that he said, that stuck with me the most, is, “if you feel it in your heart, and want to help someone in need, it doesn’t matter if it’s a scam….God see’s your heart, not your money! You’re still tithing to Him!”
Thank You, and God Bless You!
Dave
Organizer
David Raczyk
Organizer
Buffalo, NY