Please help with expenses for terminal illness

Unfortunately I’ve been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis which is a rare, incurable, and terminal respiratory disease. I’m in the advanced stages. There are no known causes and no cure. I was never a smoker so it’s probably related to asbestos exposures that were exacerbated by an auto immune response to post CoVid Pneumonia ripping my lungs apart. Most patients have a 2 to 5 year life expectancy and I’m nearing the 5 year mark.

After suffering a sudden onset of respiratory failures in February 2019 and seeing multiple doctors, including asthma and allergy specialists, I finally got referred to a pulmonologist in 2020 for X-Rays, CT Scans, and breathing tests, resulting in an official diagnosis.

Unfortunately nothing can be done to reverse the lung scarring, only to possibly slow down the progression, alleviate some of the agonizing symptoms, minimize flare ups and exacerbations, and help control the chronic cough and lung spasms.

I accept my fate and must stress that it’s not getting me down, just keeping me down because I’m on oxygen 24/7, suffering greatly, and can barely take a few steps or talk anymore without becoming quickly exhausted and practically collapsing.

I tried to mask it while performing with the band but it was brutal and became increasingly difficult to hide as it progressed, until I finally had to retire from performing by the end of September 2023 and now I can no longer supplement my disability income so donations will also help with living expenses.

Although I have Medicare and supplemental insurance with Cigna some of my meds are experimental and very expensive even with copays, and some are not covered at all, and the chronic disease and adverse reaction to the initial steroid treatment led to life threatening high blood sugar levels and Keto-Acidosis. Slowly withdrawing the steroids and using insulin and metformin have taken over a year to normalize blood sugar levels, and these meds are another added expense.

I’m applying for manufacturer funding for some of the fibrosis medications and also initiated an asbestos case with Weitz & Luxenberg, who handled my father’s case, but that can take years to settle and I’ll probably succumb to this horrific disease by then.

The band page is doing very well and Facebook signed me up for Performance Bonuses, but after hundreds of frustrating communications and much aggravation they’re not paying me, and they refuse to assist me in further trying to resolve the issue, which seems to be a glitch on their end. If it worked out I would have been able to earn a few hundred dollars a month or more from the activity the band page generates, but I’ve yet to see a dime of the $600 they owe me since signing on with monetizing the page in August of 2023.

So at this point, even though it’s very embarrassing, I’m reaching out for help. As someone who’s always used to helping others and putting everyone’s needs ahead of my own it’s a very humiliating experience but I’ve finally come to terms with it and hoping to relieve some of the financial pressure of dealing with monthly medical expenses because I’m so incapacitated I can’t possibly supplement my disability income anymore as I was doing with the band.

Please accept my apologies for imposing and please accept many thanks in advance for any contribution you can make.

Signed with much love and affection,

Jimmy James aka Jamesy Chiofolo

Rock Guitarist of Contraband

Originally From Rosedale NY