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Dear Friends of Jane and Steve,
As many of you already know, 2 weeks ago Jane, while walking, experienced a terrible, spontaneous fracture to her kneecap. It’s a horrible injury that required a six-day hospital stay, surgery, and now a long recovery. I am writing you to rally financial support for their bills during this challenging time.
Because of Steve’s battle with advancing Huntington’s Disease, he and Jane have been living on the edge financially for over a decade. With this injury, their financial situation has become dire, as has the already fragile structure of their home life. Jane is Steve’s primary caretaker and now in need of care herself—she’s had to hire in-home caregivers to come daily to tend to their basic needs. Jane is now facing huge bills from the ambulance, hospital, surgeon, and physical therapists. I know how much these things cost from my experiences with Paul. His ambulance bill alone was $5K. His hospital stays were close to a million dollars each. No insurance covers 100%. Our co-pays were brutal.
Jane reached out to many of you, our tribe, and you rallied together to help us get through Paul’s tumor. I remember clearly what a wreck I was. I was scared, grieving, and panicked. You helped our family so much and it is so deeply appreciated. Jane is now in a similar situation with impending bills for her knee injury, and lack of salary for 2 weeks. Please consider donating to help them get their heads above water.
Jane works at EMyth, a small company with a big heart. While she has no short-term disability and no available PTO, they are being incredibly understanding of her injury and absence from work.
Steve’s Huntington’s diagnosis and decline while invisible to many, began over a decade ago, and has been grueling and heartbreaking for Jane. Steve’s cognitive impairments are as bad as Paul’s during his last year of life.
We’ve all seen the love, courage, and strength Jane brings to this and every challenge. But one person can only do so much.
If you’d like more detail about their financial situation, please reach out to me. If you have questions or other ideas about other ways to help, please also contact me instead of Jane so we don’t overwhelm her as she recovers and prepares to return to work. But of course, don’t hesitate to send her your well wishes. I know Jane would love to hear from you; she has a huge heart and loves you all. The more support and connection Jane feels right now the better. Email or text are best forms of communication as she focuses on recovering.
Please feel free to share this with anyone who might want to help Jane and Steve.
Much love,
Laura
If you would like to better understand Steve’s illness, go to:
https://hdsa.org/what-is-hd/overview-of-huntingtons-disease/
An excerpt from the above site that really summed the situation up for me is:
The symptoms of HD are described as having ALS, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s – simultaneously.
Huntington’s Disease manifests as a triad of motor, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms which begin insidiously and progress over many years, until the death of the individual. The average length of survival after clinical diagnosis is typically 10-20 years, but some people have lived thirty or forty years. Late stage HD may last up to a decade or more.
As many of you already know, 2 weeks ago Jane, while walking, experienced a terrible, spontaneous fracture to her kneecap. It’s a horrible injury that required a six-day hospital stay, surgery, and now a long recovery. I am writing you to rally financial support for their bills during this challenging time.
Because of Steve’s battle with advancing Huntington’s Disease, he and Jane have been living on the edge financially for over a decade. With this injury, their financial situation has become dire, as has the already fragile structure of their home life. Jane is Steve’s primary caretaker and now in need of care herself—she’s had to hire in-home caregivers to come daily to tend to their basic needs. Jane is now facing huge bills from the ambulance, hospital, surgeon, and physical therapists. I know how much these things cost from my experiences with Paul. His ambulance bill alone was $5K. His hospital stays were close to a million dollars each. No insurance covers 100%. Our co-pays were brutal.
Jane reached out to many of you, our tribe, and you rallied together to help us get through Paul’s tumor. I remember clearly what a wreck I was. I was scared, grieving, and panicked. You helped our family so much and it is so deeply appreciated. Jane is now in a similar situation with impending bills for her knee injury, and lack of salary for 2 weeks. Please consider donating to help them get their heads above water.
Jane works at EMyth, a small company with a big heart. While she has no short-term disability and no available PTO, they are being incredibly understanding of her injury and absence from work.
Steve’s Huntington’s diagnosis and decline while invisible to many, began over a decade ago, and has been grueling and heartbreaking for Jane. Steve’s cognitive impairments are as bad as Paul’s during his last year of life.
We’ve all seen the love, courage, and strength Jane brings to this and every challenge. But one person can only do so much.
If you’d like more detail about their financial situation, please reach out to me. If you have questions or other ideas about other ways to help, please also contact me instead of Jane so we don’t overwhelm her as she recovers and prepares to return to work. But of course, don’t hesitate to send her your well wishes. I know Jane would love to hear from you; she has a huge heart and loves you all. The more support and connection Jane feels right now the better. Email or text are best forms of communication as she focuses on recovering.
Please feel free to share this with anyone who might want to help Jane and Steve.
Much love,
Laura
If you would like to better understand Steve’s illness, go to:
https://hdsa.org/what-is-hd/overview-of-huntingtons-disease/
An excerpt from the above site that really summed the situation up for me is:
The symptoms of HD are described as having ALS, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s – simultaneously.
Huntington’s Disease manifests as a triad of motor, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms which begin insidiously and progress over many years, until the death of the individual. The average length of survival after clinical diagnosis is typically 10-20 years, but some people have lived thirty or forty years. Late stage HD may last up to a decade or more.
Organizer and beneficiary
Jane Verdurmen Peart
Beneficiary