Hi everyone!

 Raven here, I am my Dad’s (Papa /Jim/James) full time/live in caregiver and I am setting this gofundme up for him. My Dad (84 years) was admitted to Sisters Hospital in Buffalo, NY on 9/16 /2025 for blood clots in his right leg that cut off circulation to his right foot. This caused internal gangrene, caused a fever, sepsis and then necrosis in his right foot and eventually led to me having to decide on the amputation of his right foot and leg below the knee. The Surgeon and I decided to amputate, otherwise Papa would’ve died from Sepsis. These surgeries were incredibly difficult on him, as he is a triple bypass survivor (with subsequent heart attacks after that) with lots of vascular issues and currently has a Pacemaker along with COPD. It’s a miracle my Dad survived these three surgeries and being under anesthesia so many times in less than 5 days. (Surgeries were on 9/18, 9/19 and 9/24 was the amputation to save him). As of late Monday night on 9/29, he was sepsis and fever free! He has had a 17 day hospital stay here at Sisters and we are now transferring him to the Rehabilitation Center (10/2/2025) to regain the rest of his strength and to relearn how to move his body. This hopefully means his leg will heal properly enough to be able to use a prosthetic leg. He has a stump shrinker, but he hates it, that is what we are currently working on. In the interim (and maybe permanently) he is wheelchair bound. 

We (my partner, Cal, and I ) have been traveling to Sisters daily (120+ mile round trip) for 17 days from Rushford, NY to Buffalo, NY. Starting today (10/2) we will be traveling to the rehab as many days as possible to be with him, and it is thankfully 12 minutes from Cals’ school that is also in Buffalo. Cal has been a massive help to us, while also going to school and work on top of it (Cal is a 4th year PhD student and a part time student professor.) With travel to the hospital, daily parking and getting Cal to class a couple days a week, this has put massive and almost dire strain on us financially, and Papa & I are already on a fixed income. We have managed just barely staying afloat so far, but it’s becoming more obvious than ever that we need to downsize and for me to focus on Papa and let Cal refocus on school. 

Our home is simply not safe for Papa, it is 200 years old and in desperate need of repairs on top of renovations we now would have to make to make it safe for him. I need to sell off as much stuff as I can and also try to sell our house and get into something safe and affordable. Papa has to have a wheelchair/handicap friendly home. Our house is also becoming increasingly more expensive with electric, fuel, taxes and so forth. We live in an extremely rural area, and the cost of living here has increased significantly to the point that we simply can not afford it. That is not including all the new medical bills and needs. Papa knows he needs something safe, and that our house is beyond what we can manage. Papa having safety and security is much more important than staying in Rushford. 

We would have to modify the front porch and door with two wheelchair access ramps, our home also has multiple steps leading into the downstairs bathroom— which would mean either I carry him into these areas— like the bathroom, or I need to renovate it to get him in there. I am 33 and could pick him up as needed, but I already took care of my Mother is Alzheimer’s Dementia from 2012-2017 and I want to minimize more strain on my body if possible. Our house also does not have a shower downstairs, only upstairs, which he will not be able to climb. There are also other areas of the house that have steps into different parts of the house, like the kitchen and dining room and his bedroom. We also have massive issues with the kitchen sink, the upstairs shower and other areas of the house that are deteriorating since I am unable to afford or work on them myself since my full time job is to care for Papa.

We can afford a monthly rent, but since this was wildly unexpected and has been very expensive so far, we do not have the security and first months rent to put down on a new place so quickly. I am hoping this gofundme can help with covering some of the costs, along with what I can manage sell out of what we don’t need. We are hoping to have a place while he is being monitored as a high risk vascular patient, healing his stump and doing physical therapy in rehab. 

Papa and I desperately want him to live back at home with me and not end up in a nursing home. I am willing to do everything necessary to care for him 24/7 to make that happen like I have already been doing full time since 2019. 

Funds raised are being used for a security deposit and first/last months rent on a wheelchair accessible apartment. We are using the estimate of $1500 x 2. They will be placed in our (Papa’s & mine) savings account until housing is secured. I’d like to try and come up with at least half. 

Anything else raised will go to medical bills, as they are starting to come in.

First OGH bill before transfer $250

Second OGH bill for cat scan $250

Ambulance bill/trans am bill $170

More will be trickling in as well as the days go on.

Thank you all so much. All the best, 

Papa, Raven & Cal