Personal Care Needed After Surgery

I have asked Jessica to tell her family's story. She can not stay home and take care of her husband, she has to work. It will be her job that will help them to survive. After his surgery this week, Jeremy will need home care to help him recover from and his life threating disease. 

"My name is Jessica and I am married to my wonderful husband, Jeremy. My husband was born with two major health issues: Ulcerative Colitis and a liver disease called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis that would inevitably lead to a liver transplant later in life. We were told he would need a transplant sometime in his 50s or 60s. Unfortunately, when he was 26 years old, he was diagnosed with HCC hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer). This diagnosis meant that he needed a liver transplant and needed one soon. After a year and a half of treatments, prayers, and many tears, we were blessed with a new liver.
The next two years were spent recovering and figuring out our new way of life. After his recovery, we decided to try for a family. Three miscarriages later, we were finally blessed with a beautiful baby girl. Kaylee joined our lives a year ago and became the light for us to focus on and our new purpose.
In addition to his difficulties with the liver, Jeremy has suffered from chronic ulcerative colitis for 17 years. Ulcerative Colitis is the cousin to Crohn’s disease. This disease has wreaked havoc on his body and our lives. We have tried every medicine and every procedure available, but his health has just deteriorated and we have now added chronic kidney stones to list of health issues he has to deal with. Based on previous tests, he is also now at risk for developing colon cancer...at 32 years old. Because of the liver transplant, we are limited on treatment options, and we have now run out of them. And believe me, we have tried EVERYTHING. We have tried medicines, infusions, diet supplements, injections...everything. At this point in our journey, the only way to cure him is to have a procedure called a colectomy. This will remove the entire colon and leave him with a colostomy bag for the rest of his life. The bottom line is that if we do not do this surgery, he will die. 

It is absolutely heartbreaking to watch your spouse waste away and be destroyed by an illness that you cannot see, or fight. This is our last option and our last hope at saving my husband and our family. It goes unsaid that this has taken a toll on us emotionally, physically, and financially. In total, he has been out of work for 4 months this year, which has drained our savings and has taken everything we had. I am still working as much as I can while taking care of him and our 11-month-old daughter, but once he has this surgery, I will have to be home with him and I have a job that relies on me being there in order to make money. We also do not have a lot of family in the area that can help, which leads me to the other cost of care post-surgery. We recently found out that his insurance will not cover any in-home care once he is released. Now, not only will we have bills relating to the surgery, but we have no one to care for him, but me and I will do what I can, but I am not a nurse. I'm a teacher. I teach kids about the ACT and about math and how to improve their reading comprehension. I'm also a mother and a wife doing everything she can to keep my family alive, together, and strong. This fundraiser is to help me do exactly that. We are not asking for a handout, nor are we asking for a freebie. We are asking for help...and we are asking for the hope that we can somehow beat this disease...and not lose what we have left. Thank you for taking the time to read this and for anything you can offer to help."