Stephen's Surgery
As I stroke the keys for this letter I am overwhelmed by need. Our son, Stephen, is need of a surgery to decrease the amount of pain caused by a disease he has had since being a toddler. Perthes disease is a painful result of the lack of blood flow to the thigh bone (femoral head) a vascular necrosis.
Perthes disease interrupted our family life when Stephen was 5 years old and received surgery to control the damage the disease was causing. He was then asked, by his doctor, not to partake in any impact or running sports.
Stephen is not a child to set still for long so we encouraged him to dance; he was tapping his feet since birth. He reluctantly said yes and after 1 month, he was hooked. Rachel, his twin sister, was not opposed to having her best friend in classes with her.
Stephen danced and performed with Ms. Samantha Graves and CYT for several years now and has chosen to stop all but his partnering class. Man does he love his partnering class! Dancing with Grace, Allison and Makayla; well he loves dancing with them all but these have been his main partners. Stephen has now quit dance.
We have only been able to financially provide our family with the minimal insurance because of my current employment status, "permanent part time". So anything more than preventative doctor appointments, labs, imaging, or surgeries are not covered.
Stephen needs surgery to repair the abnormality that the disease has caused while healing. It is an intense 3-4 hour surgery and he will be in the hospital for approximately 5 days. The procedure is scheduled for December 13. We will be home just in time for Christmas! We are estimating this procedure with the hospital stay to be more than $20,000; based on a procedure he had just a month or so ago to rule out Lymphoma, which was $16,000. The doctor has asked for $1500 by December 9th and reminded me that the Anesthesiologist, Hospital and Labs will want something down as well.
We are a hard working family. Patrick is working 2 jobs and I am working close to 40 hours a week when I can. We just can't seem to keep up with supplying our children with their medical needs.
It is difficult and humbling, to say the least, to ask for help and we would so greatly appreciate anything; including your prayers and friendship as we walk through this season.
With Love and Appreciation
The Richardson's
