Support Medical Bills for David Oechsner
Donation protected
It all started with just some foot pain. Nothing major, and our dad isn’t one to ever complain. A hard-working self-employed farmer, he’s up early every day to make sure everything gets taken care of on the 500 milking cow dairy farm in southeastern Wisconsin. But eventually, the pain got to be too much and our mom insisted he go to the doctor. What was supposed to be a simple fix has turned into a medical nightmare…
The first diagnosis was a left triple arthrodesis congenital flatfoot deformity with arthritis. Surgery was done on February 28, 2012. Despite taking the time off of work (which isn’t easy for a farmer!) and dealing with the pain of recovery, the pain persisted. On November 26, 2013, a MDCO combined with deltoid repair was performed. A year later, on December 30, 2014, a left deltoid allograft tendon repair was performed with the left first metatarsocuneiform plantar flexion talonavicular screw. But the pain worsened. X-rays confirmed what was suspected: the screw broke. After nine months of excruciating pain, on September 29, 2015, a left first metatarsal cuneiform fusion revision was performed with a calcaneal bone grafting removal. But the success was short lived and the pain only worsened over time. Fed up with the surgeries, prescriptions, insurance hangups, out of pocket expenses, and additional expenses for crutches and scooters, our dad decided he could live with the pain. Sitting in the house was beginning to take its toll...he wanted to be outside working.
Flash forward three years...all the while the pain is continuing. Tylenol and Ibuprofen only do so much and every night is sleepless for our dad. He spends his nights elevating his leg and icing his ankle and putting on a brave face. In November of 2018, our mom found out she has Stage 2 Lymphocytic Leukemia. Suddenly our dad’s number one caretaker had to be taken care of herself.
In December of 2018, our dad decided to try a nerve blocker to see if it would help. Low and behold, it did! He said he felt better than he ever had. After discussing this with his doctor, they decided a nerve severing surgery might be the best option to minimize the pain and allow for him to live a mostly pain free life. While mom started intravenous chemotherapy in January of 2019, dad’s surgery was scheduled for March 14. But the surgery didn’t help. The pain didn’t get better, it got worse. On March 28, a second nerve blocker was scheduled to help with the “failed” surgery. And again, another one on April 17. And again, none of them helped with the pain.
In addition to the physical pain is the financial pain. While our dad thought he was signing up for self-funded insurance with an agent (due to his self-employed status), he was misinformed about the type of plan. Instead of having primary health insurance, he only had supplemental insurance that was maxed out within a month. Now our parents are paying 100% out of pocket for all services thus far in 2019. At this time, costs have exceeded $85,000.
Our parents aren’t people to ask for help. They’ve raised six independent children who have all worked hard to do what they love in life. But seeing our parents become sideswept by medical bills has hurt. They’ve always been there to help us out when we’ve needed car repairs, a down payment for an apartment, or books for college. And we’ve never asked and we’ve never been able to give the money back because they don’t allow it. They have prided themselves on being able to help their kids and we can see that it worries them because they wonder if they are going to be able to pay for their own medical bills now.
The medical terms are all confusing to everyone. What it is is a laundry list of all of the headaches our parents have dealt with during the last few years. Your donation will help offset the medical bills that they have incurred, in addition to the pain and suffering our dad has dealt with as a result of these surgeries. And even though he has applied for insurance to begin next month, there will still be out of pocket expenses that won’t be covered. Your donation goes to help our parents rest assured that they can afford their medical bills.
The first diagnosis was a left triple arthrodesis congenital flatfoot deformity with arthritis. Surgery was done on February 28, 2012. Despite taking the time off of work (which isn’t easy for a farmer!) and dealing with the pain of recovery, the pain persisted. On November 26, 2013, a MDCO combined with deltoid repair was performed. A year later, on December 30, 2014, a left deltoid allograft tendon repair was performed with the left first metatarsocuneiform plantar flexion talonavicular screw. But the pain worsened. X-rays confirmed what was suspected: the screw broke. After nine months of excruciating pain, on September 29, 2015, a left first metatarsal cuneiform fusion revision was performed with a calcaneal bone grafting removal. But the success was short lived and the pain only worsened over time. Fed up with the surgeries, prescriptions, insurance hangups, out of pocket expenses, and additional expenses for crutches and scooters, our dad decided he could live with the pain. Sitting in the house was beginning to take its toll...he wanted to be outside working.
Flash forward three years...all the while the pain is continuing. Tylenol and Ibuprofen only do so much and every night is sleepless for our dad. He spends his nights elevating his leg and icing his ankle and putting on a brave face. In November of 2018, our mom found out she has Stage 2 Lymphocytic Leukemia. Suddenly our dad’s number one caretaker had to be taken care of herself.
In December of 2018, our dad decided to try a nerve blocker to see if it would help. Low and behold, it did! He said he felt better than he ever had. After discussing this with his doctor, they decided a nerve severing surgery might be the best option to minimize the pain and allow for him to live a mostly pain free life. While mom started intravenous chemotherapy in January of 2019, dad’s surgery was scheduled for March 14. But the surgery didn’t help. The pain didn’t get better, it got worse. On March 28, a second nerve blocker was scheduled to help with the “failed” surgery. And again, another one on April 17. And again, none of them helped with the pain.
In addition to the physical pain is the financial pain. While our dad thought he was signing up for self-funded insurance with an agent (due to his self-employed status), he was misinformed about the type of plan. Instead of having primary health insurance, he only had supplemental insurance that was maxed out within a month. Now our parents are paying 100% out of pocket for all services thus far in 2019. At this time, costs have exceeded $85,000.
Our parents aren’t people to ask for help. They’ve raised six independent children who have all worked hard to do what they love in life. But seeing our parents become sideswept by medical bills has hurt. They’ve always been there to help us out when we’ve needed car repairs, a down payment for an apartment, or books for college. And we’ve never asked and we’ve never been able to give the money back because they don’t allow it. They have prided themselves on being able to help their kids and we can see that it worries them because they wonder if they are going to be able to pay for their own medical bills now.
The medical terms are all confusing to everyone. What it is is a laundry list of all of the headaches our parents have dealt with during the last few years. Your donation will help offset the medical bills that they have incurred, in addition to the pain and suffering our dad has dealt with as a result of these surgeries. And even though he has applied for insurance to begin next month, there will still be out of pocket expenses that won’t be covered. Your donation goes to help our parents rest assured that they can afford their medical bills.
Organizer and beneficiary
Ashley Ernst
Organizer
Brownsville, WI
Cheryl Oechsner
Beneficiary