Dear friends and family,

As many of you know my wife, Brandy, and I (Perfecto), were both diagnosed with complex medical issues this year. Below is a summary of the difficulties we have faced.

The last two years have been a struggle for my family. My wife has been shuffled from doctor to doctor looking for answers to why she is in constant pain, suffering from severe headaches, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and insomnia, among other issues. In January of this year I took her to the ER when the headaches became unbearable, her heart rate increased to 195 beats per minute and she experienced a series of visual disturbances. After a CT scan of her head we finally had our answer. She was diagnosed with a pituitary macroadenoma that had recently hemorrhaged. She was admitted into the hospital and kept in ICU until they were able to operate. While we were waiting for the operation, I worried about the impact the tumor would have on my wife both physically and on who she is as a person due to the impact pituitary dysfunction has on the human body. I prayed that my daughters would have their mother in their lives for as long as possible and that I would have my wife by my side so we can grow old together. Fortunately, the surgery was successful and half of the tumor was removed. A failed attempt to shrink the remaining half with medication led to a second surgery. The second surgery successfully removed the remaining tissue, but it created new issues. Brandy’s neurosurgery team stated that it was not if her pituitary gland would start to fail, but when and we did not have to wait long. Less than a month after surgery a blood test showed her cortisol level was too low and the neurosurgery team referred her to an endocrinologist. Her appointment is scheduled for November 20th so we do not have a definitive diagnosis, but it looks like secondary adrenal insufficiency. Treatments for this condition are limited and require trial and error. During all of this her autoimmune condition flared and she was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. At this point in time we do not know when she will be well enough to work again and I do not want her to push herself too far too fast.

During the week following Brandy’s second surgery, my issues started to surface. My blood pressure was dangerously high and I was having chest pains, shortness of breath, lightheadedness and blurry vision. I was afraid of the worst, I thought I was going to have a heart attack or a stroke and I would not be around to see my girls grow up. The doctors admitted me into the hospital and spent two days trying to raise my potassium and lower my blood pressure. Unfortunately, I returned to the ER a day and half later with the same problems. This time the ER doctors basically threw up their hands and passed me off to the hospital floor doctors. After two days of no one being able to figure out why my potassium was low, my cardiologist came in to check on me and immediately ordered a series of tests. I was diagnosed with primary aldosteronism. A little known condition that causes your adrenals to produce a hormone called aldosterone that tells your kidneys to remove potassium. The extremely low levels of potassium lead to an electrolyte imbalance which causes hypertension. The diagnosis has led to more doctor appointments and more procedures in order to determine whether I am eligible for surgery to correct the issue or if I will be on medical management for the rest of my life. I will know the answer to this question on November 14th when I follow up with the endocrine surgeon.

As you can imagine, our medical bills are substantial and Brandy has been without an income for almost two years. We have reduced our spending as much as we can, but we still face a deficit every month. We applied for assistance for medical bills but were denied. Brandy was also denied disability, but is filing an appeal to that decision. We are hoping she will be approved during the appeal process since this money will allow us to break even at our new lower cost of living. The problem we face is the medical debt and the debt we have incurred since we lost the second income. There is no way we will be able to pay off these amounts with the income we expect to come in.

Recently a close friend came by to check on us and asked if we had set up a GoFundMe account. GoFundMe was not one of the options we had been exploring until our friend brought it up. We are normally a very private family who only use social media to share with family that do not live close by, so the decision to create this fundraiser was a difficult one. The deciding factor was our daughters. We want to keep their life as normal as possible while we work through these difficult times and we do not want to move them away from the school district they have been in for the last eight years. We are asking for your support to help cover the debt we have incurred dealing with these medical conditions.

We thank you for your prayers, your support, your love and for taking the time to read about and share our situation.