Help Chris with his medical bills

The last 5+ years have been absolutely crazy for me and my family.

During this period we've experienced a near fatal and life altering Automobile collision, welcomed the arrival of a fantastic little person into our lives, and a series of medical issues that included but are not limited to brain tumours and broken vertebrae.

In 2013 Jenn and I were in a near fatal car accident that has resulted in many profound life altering physical, mental, and emotional issues.

When I returned to work in 2015, I began to report big changes in how my body operated; borderline narcoleptic episodes, intense G.I. issues, and massive weight gain i.e. clothing shift from a comfortable Medium to a tight fitting XL.  In the spring of 2016 had my Blood pressure numbers in stroke zone and Blood sugar numbers that were beginning to cause much concern.  The Edema in my legs led to continual open wounds which led to numerous blood-clots and infections that varied from nuisance to near septic.

From Spring 2016 to Spring 2019 my health situation could be characterized by a series infections and long visits to wound clinics and IV clinics  to received large doses of antibiotics coupled with trying out different medications, diets, exercise, and research as to why I was so sick in such a short period of time.  Some changes made some improvements but no Cures. 

In the Spring of 2019 Jenn, I, and the kids went to Hawaii to celebrate her 50th birthday.  While we were there, I experienced an infection in my knee that eventually had it swell to three times its normal size effective ruining the trip for all of us and sending me to the hospital to deal with the infection for it turned septic. 

I went right from the plane into a waiting car to the HSC for a 10 day stay where the infection was dealt with but also where I was diagnosed with Cushing's disease. What this means is that I had a massive amount of Cortisol (a stress hormone) was being produced 24-7 keeping my body in a accelerated/elevated state of alert at all times. Coupled with this, a tumor had been growing on my pituitary gland for at least 6 years and had filled much of my sinus cavity pressing on my optic nerves as well the pituitary - threatening my eyesight but also sending messages to my body to not produce any insulin. 

At this point my blood pressure was through the roof, cortisol levels were "astounding", blood sugar levels were extremely high, and i was essentially diabetic with out knowing it at all.

Once i was in the hospital and it was determined that I had Cushing's and there was a tumor a plan was set to go and have some brain surgery and start to fix the problem.

What was supposed to be about a 1 month wait turned into 6 months and finally 10. At the end of November I was prepped and a fine team went in a carved a bunch of stuff out of my skull. 

It wasn't until February that I start to feel anywhere near normal again and my neurosurgeon thought another dig might be able to get even more tumour out. So at the end of Feb we did a round 2 which got the tumour out of my head they figure - but all the symptoms of Cushing's remain.

 The now plan is to use Gamma knife radiation to wipe out any leftovers in my head AND to do and a bilateral adrenalectomy which is removing the adrenal glands from the kidneys ultimately stopping the production of cortisol, "curing" the Cushing's but leaving me to manage the damage for the rest of my life.

That's the med side of this mess now the financials....

I have been lucky enough to have had a good chunk of sick days that carried me from April until the start of 2020.  Jenn hasn't worked  for well over a year as I've need a caretaker since I was falling a lot- and serious falls - like right on my face.. total mess, MPI took my licence away, bone density is garbage and I fractured a vertebrae in my back coughing, and there have been times where I was so weak that I ended up on the floor for hours because I couldn't stand up .  Total mess. 

Up until January we were making due on my Short term disability payments and our savings. When we looked at what we had we figured that we'd be okay with the timeline the surgeon and specialists laid of for wait and recovery time.  

Our situation changed with an unexplained 6 month wait on surgery, Jenn not working, and surprise house/car/child expenses that were greater than what we have anticipated and budgeted for: $250 a month to keep up Dental and medical  coverage viable,  $400 every few months for specially fitted compression stockings, meds that seem to change with each doctors visit - some which are covered by my plan and some that aren't.  The usual house needs that seem to pop up at the worst time requiring $800 here and $2000 there - nevermind  a $500 estimate everytime the car hiccups.

When you look at the situation of a 2 income family now down to one income and that one has been reduced by a significant  percentage it's hard to not be stressed about it all - and that's that one thing i'm supposed to avoid - stress.

We anticipated some lean times but we also expected at least one of us being back at work at a regular pay cheque. The initial wait to get have the first surgery and the extended process to having the adrenal glands removed  and then recover and then relearning how to live with all the changes to my body and get back to work will have me on disability and limited income for many many months to come.

We have rolled with our saving  and selling off some of my higher valued items as long as we could, but all the money is nearly gone and we could really use your help.

I try to not ask for much from family and friends as i know things are tough all over and you all have your own challenges but this is one to I could really use a hand



Edit March 10- hey thanks for reading down to the end!!  I'm gonna try and clean up the story a bit as it was scribbled down at 3 AM and trying to get all the details down was a real challenge.

Thank you so much to everyone who is sharing this and donating.  Much love from us to you.