Donation protected
October 5th, 2018 is a day I will remember for the rest of my life. On that day my wife Debby Cianfaglione was in a severe auto accident. She had a head on collision with a telephone pole, totaling her truck. I will never understand how she physically walked away in one piece. I am not a particularly religious person, but in this instance, I believe someone or something, has other plans for her.
Her psychological and emotional well being is an entirely different story. She has struggled for quite a few years with this disease called, Depression. Compounding her depression is her chronic, daily pain due to two herniated cervical discs, spinal stenosis, IBS, hiatal hernia, endometriosis, and abdominal adhesions. Those of you that know her, see her with a smile and functioning fairly well. What you don't know, is that she struggles every day to mask her symptoms. This is, in part, due to the stigma that still remains regarding individuals who suffer from mental illness, depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc. She has always felt people would view her as weak, an attention seeker, or worse, faking it, and that people were judging her. At her request, we tried to hide her struggles for years. As a result, she gave the impression as being detached or unfriendly. This could not be further from the truth. If we have alienated anyone, please forgive us, that was not our intention. During all those years, we have consulted many doctors, tried many, many different medications, therapies, treatment protocols, medical procedures, holistic treatments, acupuncture, etc. Nothing seemed to have a positive, lasting effect. On October 5th, that all changed, it was time to come clean, and obtain more professional help so Debby can live a productive, fulfilling, and happy life, she so deserves.
Debby is a beautiful, caring, gentle, yet strong woman. She is an awesome partner and dedicated mother, who is devoted to her children and friends. She raised two beautiful, smart, caring, and respectful children. I had very little to do with that, I was always working. Although she may not agree with you all the time, and she would let you know, she always has your back and will support you unconditionally. Definitely a person I would want on my side going into battle. She would sacrifice her own well being, in a heartbeat, to help others in a time of need without expecting anything in return. I have seen this first hand on many occasions. Even at her worst, she can still bring out the best in people. The real Debby I fell in love with 26 years ago is still in there.
That brings us here today. Those of you who know me, know I am a very private, grounded, self-reliant person. It really goes against my grain to ever ask for help, probably a flaw. I have never asked for help and never thought I ever would. Debby says I am very stubborn and pig headed and my pride gets in the way. You have to understand, I am a "fixer". I take pride in myself, that I can fix just about anything, except Debby. This is extremely difficult for me, to be here asking for help.
As a result of this most recent accident, and many years of various medical procedures, therapies, medications, etc. we have incurred a rather large amount of medical expenses, and as of late, they are rising rapidly due this recent turn of events. Unfortunately, our medical insurance is very basic and inadequate & not very inclusive. A large portion of Debby's treatments are either denied due to lack of "medical necessity" or not covered at all by our policy, which leaves us with a great deal of out of pocket expenses. For instance, the multiple ambulance transports she has had are not covered. Our insurance only covers five days of hospital stay, which is no where near enough. The balance is out of pocket. The program she is in now is a 5-week program, our insurance only covers seven days. Her teeth were damaged due to the accident and our dental coverage was removed from our policy. In addition, I have been on intermittent leave from work (FMLA) in order to care for Debby and our daughter Emily, so as a result, my income is reduced. Just recently, we had to hire a home health aide and pay out of pocket, so I could go back to work to pay the household bills. You guessed it, our insurance policy does not cover that either. And then there are the numerous out of network bills that come in the mail, daily. As a result, we are struggling. We are in the process of withdrawing from my 401K and other investments to help pay the bills, however, this is not enough.
In conclusion, please consider helping us by making a donation to this campaign to help Debby get the proper treatment and care she needs to defeat this disease once and for all, avoiding complete financial ruin in the process. This is a very challenging time for us and we realize this is going to be a long, and costly, journey to recovery. Debby and me are extremely grateful for the love and emotional support we have received from family and friends. Thank you all again!
Her psychological and emotional well being is an entirely different story. She has struggled for quite a few years with this disease called, Depression. Compounding her depression is her chronic, daily pain due to two herniated cervical discs, spinal stenosis, IBS, hiatal hernia, endometriosis, and abdominal adhesions. Those of you that know her, see her with a smile and functioning fairly well. What you don't know, is that she struggles every day to mask her symptoms. This is, in part, due to the stigma that still remains regarding individuals who suffer from mental illness, depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc. She has always felt people would view her as weak, an attention seeker, or worse, faking it, and that people were judging her. At her request, we tried to hide her struggles for years. As a result, she gave the impression as being detached or unfriendly. This could not be further from the truth. If we have alienated anyone, please forgive us, that was not our intention. During all those years, we have consulted many doctors, tried many, many different medications, therapies, treatment protocols, medical procedures, holistic treatments, acupuncture, etc. Nothing seemed to have a positive, lasting effect. On October 5th, that all changed, it was time to come clean, and obtain more professional help so Debby can live a productive, fulfilling, and happy life, she so deserves.
Debby is a beautiful, caring, gentle, yet strong woman. She is an awesome partner and dedicated mother, who is devoted to her children and friends. She raised two beautiful, smart, caring, and respectful children. I had very little to do with that, I was always working. Although she may not agree with you all the time, and she would let you know, she always has your back and will support you unconditionally. Definitely a person I would want on my side going into battle. She would sacrifice her own well being, in a heartbeat, to help others in a time of need without expecting anything in return. I have seen this first hand on many occasions. Even at her worst, she can still bring out the best in people. The real Debby I fell in love with 26 years ago is still in there.
That brings us here today. Those of you who know me, know I am a very private, grounded, self-reliant person. It really goes against my grain to ever ask for help, probably a flaw. I have never asked for help and never thought I ever would. Debby says I am very stubborn and pig headed and my pride gets in the way. You have to understand, I am a "fixer". I take pride in myself, that I can fix just about anything, except Debby. This is extremely difficult for me, to be here asking for help.
As a result of this most recent accident, and many years of various medical procedures, therapies, medications, etc. we have incurred a rather large amount of medical expenses, and as of late, they are rising rapidly due this recent turn of events. Unfortunately, our medical insurance is very basic and inadequate & not very inclusive. A large portion of Debby's treatments are either denied due to lack of "medical necessity" or not covered at all by our policy, which leaves us with a great deal of out of pocket expenses. For instance, the multiple ambulance transports she has had are not covered. Our insurance only covers five days of hospital stay, which is no where near enough. The balance is out of pocket. The program she is in now is a 5-week program, our insurance only covers seven days. Her teeth were damaged due to the accident and our dental coverage was removed from our policy. In addition, I have been on intermittent leave from work (FMLA) in order to care for Debby and our daughter Emily, so as a result, my income is reduced. Just recently, we had to hire a home health aide and pay out of pocket, so I could go back to work to pay the household bills. You guessed it, our insurance policy does not cover that either. And then there are the numerous out of network bills that come in the mail, daily. As a result, we are struggling. We are in the process of withdrawing from my 401K and other investments to help pay the bills, however, this is not enough.
In conclusion, please consider helping us by making a donation to this campaign to help Debby get the proper treatment and care she needs to defeat this disease once and for all, avoiding complete financial ruin in the process. This is a very challenging time for us and we realize this is going to be a long, and costly, journey to recovery. Debby and me are extremely grateful for the love and emotional support we have received from family and friends. Thank you all again!
Organizer
John Cianfaglione
Organizer
Sayreville, NJ